Nursery visit today with DD, I'm not sure abot the place

[curlywurlycremeegg]

Having had DD's name down for a nursery palce for about 18 months, she is very bright and although I am a WAHM and could have her here all the time I think she needs more interaction with other kids now she is 2.6. Anyway put her name down at the nursery I used with DS1 as it was great, however it was ages ago, DS1 left in 1999. So I have provisionally booked her in for two days a week and went to visit today with her and am now feeling a bit uneasy.

The room she was in just looked really scruffy, bits of blu tack stuck to the walls all over the place, sand all over one section of the toy cupboard (granted that may only just have occured), decoration just looked worn and tatty and a child had used the toilet in the wash area and t hadn't been flushed

Do you think these things really matter or am I being picky?

It sounds a bit run down. OTH if you haven't visited nurseries for a while you may have forgotten how chaotic they can appear. If you feel uneasy about it, change it. I visited DS's former nursery for DD and didn't like it as much. It was a different branch but same philosophy, same management, but it didn't feel right for DD.

have a look at other nurseries in the area so you have something current to compare to

I know what you mean. I was planning to send dd to nursery when she turned 1 but didn't send her until she turned 2. I recently went along with a friend to a nursery I visited back in late 2005 and I was genuinely surprised how different it appeared. A lot more run down and chaotic. My dd attends a nursery that always has been a mess (but the toilets are always clean) at whatever time of day I visit. However, to visit a chaotic nursery that was previously tidy and organised made me really uneasy. I couldn't recommend the nursery to my friend when she asked my opinion. Trust your gut instinct. If it doesn't feel right, then it probably isn't right for your little one.

thanks everyone, am off to visit another hursery today just to compare as suggested

I'm not sure the specific things you mention matter - the blu-tack might just have been because they were in the middle of changing displays of artwork, and the toilet - well if the LOs are encouraged to visit the toilet independently, that can happen with a small hand not quite managing to press the flush (agree though the staff should check regularly for things like that).

Shiny new equipment and spotless order might occur in a nursery where the staff were less caring and gifted at dealing with small children than in a scruffy one, or vice versa, but the most important thing is that you didn't get the right 'feel' for the place, and that really does matter, for maybe the scruffiness is the only thing you can put your finger on while you were subconsciously picking up other negative vibes not so easy to define. You are definitely doing the right thing in visiting another - good luck!

When we looked at a a pre-school for dd, our most important considerations were how caring the staff were and well they interacted with the children, how happy the children were, and whether there were plenty of activities. For me those things are more important than the things you mention - all of which could have been one-offs, and none of which would be a big deal for me if I was happy with everything else.

Just visited another nursery and really liked it so that's made my mind up, thank you all. I think the thing that shocked me was how DD1's old nursery had declined, I don't expect the place to be pristine, there are loads of kids running round! I just expect it to be well maintained and it just made me feel that if they didn't really care about the building did they really care about the staff they employed as it is all to do with their buisiness IYKWIM

result - glad that is now sorted - minds at rest