Nursery Negligence?

[Shaashi]

18 month old twins started nursery 2.5 days a week 5 weeks ago. 3 settling sessions 1 hour long: first session I sat by door with mask on, no other children in the room, blinds were down with artificial lights on sunny morning. 2nd 2 hour slots i had to drop them off and not allowed in due to covid.
All staff wear masks all the time until this week so babies never see whole face.

Twins cry, cling, say NO every time I drop them off. They are very distressed at home all the time since starting nursery, not playing, clinging, Crying, tantrums saying NO. Change in characters. Don't greet or say bye to staff.

Twice I have collected them from the outside space on cold afternoons with no cardigans or hats on, just thin long sleeved tops with plastic puddle suits ( no warmth) .

I want to take twins out of nursery as they are so unhappy there snd it's heartbreaking for me to deal with their distress at home.

Since birth they have been cared for by nannies and friends at home and on outings and always happy and kissing and cuddling them.

Manager says contract is 2 months notice. Can I claim they have been negligent in physical care not keeping them warm, snd social / emotional health by not properly settling them and being able to see staff faces?

The masks thing is just erring on the side of caution. It’s one of those situations where the nursery can’t please everyone- whatever they do someone is going to object. Anyway, you say they are not wearing masks now, so that’s a non issue.
The blinds might have been drawn because the sun shines in and gets too hot and dazzles people- I’ve worked in a nursery where the sun was relentless in one side, so the blinds were sometimes drawn- also the blinds are often down at sleep time.
The outside play issue- could be the staff didn’t realise how chilly it was or the wetsuits don’t fit over coats.
None of that is negligence. Especially as you’ve continued to send them.
I suggest speaking to the manager and politely asking if you can negotiate the notice period.

Beautiful sunny day and I have to pull the blinds down or the sun is straight into the children’s eyes. So we can see, I put the lights on. I’m clearly negligent!!!!

I'm wondering if some of the comments saying that wearing masks around the children at all times is normal are people not from the UK? That seems to have been routine in the US but I don't know of any nurseries in the UK where staff wore masks all day around the children, rather than just while interacting with parents.

We're pulling some blinds down in my nursery in the morning too. Low sun is blinding sometimes, but you don't need to do all of them.

Pulled down blinds, were there babies sleeping at the time? Was it to create a certain light for a specific activity. Are the blinds down the whole time? Do they have children in the room who have older siblings that can be seen from the garden so in order to keep them calm they close the blinds. Is there a safeguarding reason why the blinds need to be closed.

Have you asked the staff why they close the blinds?
How long were the children outside with rain coats on? Could it be that you happened to turn up when they were in the middle of an activity? I would imagine it is very tricky to get wet coats dry and to ensure that they still had warm dry coats they used waterproofs for a short time.

The settling in can be perfectly normal especially if you are apprehensive they will pick up that vibe.
Have you had any conversations regarding your concerns and given the nursery a chance to explain?

it sounds like you are worried about them, i would be too, but that you are weighing up whether you can withdraw them without losing money.
well, which is more important ?
are you really playing off your children's continued unhappiness against money.
so it's a double loss: the money is gone. now add to that continued unhappiness for children.
just take them out.
maybe argue later about the money, re contractual obligations.
but. take. them. out. now.

With regards to mask wearing, I expect the staff only wore them when parents were present, which is why op thinks they wore them all the time

Masks were not advised for early years at any point except where having contact with other adults so while you were in the room and at hand overs. If you hated the blinds down why didn't you ask about it? If children are cold in their puddle suits....which are very windproof ....why did you not ask about it straight away?
Your children are not happy take them out but don't try negligence as a reason not to pay.....and if you take advice others gave to not pay prepare to be get further legal action.

You are simply looking for reasons to not have to give notice.

They can take a while to settle at that age.

Masks - probably worn because you were there, not recommended to be used with early years children.

Blinds down - check which way the sun was shining, we have to pull blinds much lower than we would with only adults about.

No coats - this is the only one where I think you may have reason to complain and that is dependant on whether you had provided adequate coats and jumpers and what they were actually doing outside. Some children refuse to keep hats on despite the adults best efforts.

Speak to the nursery manager to discuss the concerns.