Wrong child given to me

[Astressedmumoftwo]

Earlier today I went to pick up my son from nursery. A member of staff I'd never seen before appeared with a little girl who walked towards me out of the door. I quickly explained that I wasn't her mum and the worker apologised and took her back in. I had a chat with the manager after who explained that this new staff member had been mistakenly told I was this girls mum by another staff member.

He was very apologetic, said the staff member involved was very upset about it and said they'd make sure it couldn't happen again by implementing more safeguarding procedures. They seemed to take it seriously at least

What would you do?

Well, that's not what I said either.

I said that there are some wonderful people there despite the crap pay. And ime there are more of them than the other type - workers who are only there because they can't get a job anywhere else. Because most other jobs where the pay is equally low are easier and involve less responsibility than working with young children.

And I think you'll find that most parents are under no illusions as to how hard it is to care for their 'darling offspring' and don't take the quite frankly weird view that spending time with them is a particular joy or privilege for anyone else 🙄.

They probably did. Worker one looks out, sees parent and recognises them as a parent. Says to new worker ‘that’s Ava’s mum’. New worker mishears and brings out Eve.

That’s a mistake that could happen even if they had asked the parent and misheard them .

Hi can't believe how relaxed everyone on this thread is.
I'd report to the local authority and OFSTED. Unacceptable mistake.

I think you should spend some time in a nursery and show new starters how it’s done OP. You obviously know best.

Of course it’s not an unacceptable mistake, how silly.

I sit on both sides of this equation. A parent and an educattor. As a parent I wouldn't be happy neither would I as someone responsible for safeguarding. However I don't work with nonverbal people so A. I would ask the parent to confirm the child's name and B. I would ask the child to tell me who had come to collect them. Hopefully except when people known to the child come to collect them without permission it should avoid this. If a staff member isn't trained to do this then they shouldn't be doing this role. It is not the fault of the staff member but should be a red flag re the organisation and their training requirements.

I've seen this happen before as well. Fair enough they apologised but I would be concerned if they did that with my child.

@candycaneframe @SudocremOnEverything it was a joke

It’s happened to me a few times - the staff usually realise. There is another little boy with a similar name to my own. Think Greg and Gregory so it think when his name gets called up they sometimes bring the other one. Whoever calls up recognises me as a parent - rather than a total stranger so I’m not worried about the miscommunication in between.

It’s hard to tell on this thread though.