Has anyone been allowed back in yet??

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My daughter started nursery when the world reopened last year in July and I have still not seen inside the place! I just drop her at the gate every morning and collect her again in the evening.

Please don't get me wrong, I appreciate what they're doing for infection control to try and keep everybody safe but I'm just itching to see where she plays and her peg where she hangs her coat.

The nursery staff have told the parents that they are reviewing the situation and will keep us updated but I'm just wondering what experience everyone else is having with this?

Not in allowed in still. I hate it. There’s a new manager and as a result all the old staff have left so I have no idea what the new staff even look like, let alone that they’re nice to the children.

It also takes forever in the morning and as everyone needs to line up individually outside and wait for each child to have their temp taken, hand the child over and put away pram/scooter etc before the next one can even ring the bell to be let in. I know people who have left because it just takes too long. I looked for a new nursery too but decided my son seems happy and he only has another year before school.

We've been allowed back in since last Monday, though in real terms all that's changed is they collect your child in reception to take them to their room instead of from outside. Pick-up is a little different and you can go directly to their room, though they don't encourage you to hang around.

I'm a childminder and will be continuing with doorstop drop offs and pick ups because the child settle down much quicker without the disruption of people coming in and the fact that I'm protecting all the children in my care because they are not vaccinated and I do not know the status of whether all my parents are vaccinated.
All meetings arranged with parents are either done outside in my garden or outside of my working hours because I also have to be careful because if I get it I have to close and it's the domino effect.
I keep an eye on the local figures which are high here and whilst learning to live with it I think it's rather silly to remove all safety measures.

My son started nursery in Feb and we've always been allowed in to collect him. I collect him at 5:30 so there are only 2-3 other children there usually.
3 rooms there though so I think they stick to bubbles that way.

A friend is a nursery worker and they say that even when all the restrictions are lifted they probably won't have parents back in. This is because it is much better for the children they settle better, and safeguarding is much easier

I've only seen inside my DS nursery when we went on a weekend to visit before choosing.
To be honest I found it a lot easier for DS and myself just dropping at the door, I think he would of found it harder to settle of I was to go inside with him.
And tbf he runs in without saying bye now so it's worked well!

Never been in DS’s nursery, and the regularity of photos/videos have dropped off a bit too

We’ve noticed this too. Used to have frequent daily updates of DD’s activities on Tapestry, but now weeks go by without anything at all being posted. All of the ‘extras’ - themed days, outside providers, trips out - seem to have gone too. I do worry that the lack of scrutiny means they’ve started to coast a bit.

Still no sign of being allowed back into ours - biggest concession has been no more masks at drop off and pick up, so we can at least start to recognise and chat to some of the other parents.

DD is only there two days a week so not overly concerned, but she’s starting school next September and I’m now wondering if we’ll be allowed in to view any of the schools we’re applying to - feels weird and more than a bit worrying to base such an important decision on local rumours and out of date league tables and Ofsted reports!

DD is only there two days a week so not overly concerned, but she’s starting school next September and I’m now wondering if we’ll be allowed in to view any of the schools we’re applying to - feels weird and more than a bit worrying to base such an important decision on local rumours and out of date league tables and Ofsted reports!

Yes I’m a bit concerned about this too, DD will be a September 2022 start and the main reason I kept her in private nursery rather than moving to a school one was that we couldn’t go and visit anywhere. I hate the thought of sending her to a school I’ve never seen with people I’ve never met.

We haven't. Ours said they were hoping for Sept but DS has left now so I only ever saw inside when I looked round before he joined!

As a parent and practitioner of a well known chain of nurseries. The chain as a whole is letting parents in but realistically it's up to the management team. The nursery I work, children are still dropped off at the door and it makes transitions a lot easier this way. When it's home time, us the staff take the children out to their parents. However, new children who are settling, we settle them with the parents for at least 1 session but in the garden and only parent child and practitioner. This is to prevent spread of potential infection.
Management team has clearly stated the reason why parents are not allowed in nursery is because company allow them to enter but not in the rooms itself. We are in a big converted house and unfortunately our corridors have no windows or ventilation so that's why us a nursery are not allowing parents to come inside. On author note, parents can come visit to see their child's room if there is no other children in the room at the time, we do this either in the evening or when our room is having garden play. As a room leader of my room I have set up a welcome pack ensuring parents and carers get information regarding the room with several pictures of the layout and set up too.
Can you suggest this to the nursery.?

The baby room parents are allowed in now, and they've rearranged the site so that two other rooms drop off and pick up from the garden on either side, meaning less of a queue at the front door. It works really well, and being allowed into the garden means we can see in the window at their room.

Ours have always been happy to take photos when I've asked to see something. I remember being very emotional about his first peg! (Started Jan 2020 so had a few weeks of seeing inside before the pandemic.) I can definitely see how not having parents in and out makes life much easier for everyone.

Having done settling with DD pre-covid I think it was confusing/unsettling for her and the other kids to have parents in and out of there for literally weeks and I hope that they keep the current setup. Our nursery was never into Tapestry etc but the downturn in use of that seems like covid as an excuse.