No staff at nursery

[catlady1234]

Hi,

My DC (10 months old) has just started nursery, this should be their 3rd week. They go 3 days a week.
Last weds they were sent home with upset tummy as they are teething. Had to have Thursday off too as per their policy.

They should have gone in today but at 7:30pm last night we get a message via the app saying they have no staff and they can't go in.

Is this common?

I'm worried they have staff issues and also the last min communication is a huge issue for us! We don't have easy solutions and it gave us no time to find any options.

We've had this a couple of time bit its usually because staff are off sick...

Everyone is totally right to warn you about how much time off you'll need for sickness in the first 6-9months at nursery. It's bloody hard and last minute and was a nightmare for us to juggle at the time (for both kids... 1 is now well into primary years, the other started nursery in Jan, so we're just out of it now).

But we have never had nursery reject children due to their staffing problems. Only during covid lockdowns did we get asked not to send kids if we could keep them at home (which we did). So I'd say its not 'normal' but given the childcare crisis we have in this country it is likely becoming more usual.

FWIW, our nursery is private but is one of the most expensive in our town (~£950-1,000 a month for 3 days per week) but they have great staff retention - most staff are the same as those who cared for my eldest 5 years ago! I think this makes some difference and staff have good morale.

The early years sector is going through a massive recruitment and retention crisis:

www.theguardian.com/education/2022/apr/30/uk-faces-childcare-crisis-as-staff-shortages-force-nurseries-to-close

www.eyalliance.org.uk/news/2021/12/early-years-staffing-shortages-reaches-crisis-point

It could be this new covid wave - maybe too many of the staff are sick?

My nursery is the most expensive in the area but still has staffing issues.

It's not just price. My current one is expensive but we work 4 days per week from 7:15 to 6:30. And some nurseries have nasty managers, or place unrealistic demands on staff.

Don't assume high fees always translates into better paid staff.

You look for a nursery in a better position. I've never experienced this.

Unfortunately, as they found themselves out of work during the covid lockdowns, a lot of nursery, teaching assistants and hospital staff went and found jobs in warehouses, supermarkets, etc., and have simply not gone back to what they were doing before, not always due to wages, but also they may prefer their new jobs, flexibility, less stress, etc. Same as happened with airport staff. It's going to be a long/hard road for lots of industries to recover from almost 2 years of disruption, and part of that will be having to look at working hours, wages, etc to make them attractive places to work in again.

@Mysterian our nursery is in the top bracket of nurseries in the area.

I don't know what the staff get paid but we are paying £1,200 a month for 3 days a week. It's a huge financial impact for us. We both need to work to cover the costs.

@MassiveSalad22

My preference is nursery due to socialisation and safeguarding. The nursery is just about affordable, I don't think we could afford a nanny even if you wanted to.

Sickness I was expecting. But I didn't expect staff shortages. I didn't realise it was even a thing. They told us when viewing that bank staff would cover any absences 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Tumbleweed101

Potentially our child had a bug that's now done the rounds. They weren't sick when taken to nursery, we got called that afternoon and picked them up/ kept them off etc.

None of us have subsequently got unwell so who knows.

@ThatGirlInACountrySong

What alternative option??

We pay for a good nursery in our area.
We can't afford a nanny. I looked at childminders and they didn't fit our needs.

It wasn’t our experience of nursery pre-2020 but it’s pretty usual now. Our breakfast club has shut and after school club can’t get agency staff so if permanent staff are sick it has to close at short notice. It’s crap. But it’s pretty much like this across my city post brexit.

@ThatGirlInACountrySong

Oh come off it. It is not that easy to find alternative care at short notice. Why are you being deliberately obtuse?

@Stella212 Thank you!

I bet their next response will be

'Don't have children if you can't look after them yourself' 🙄

I've worked as a nursery assistant and it was awful. hated the atmosphere, hated the cleaning, it's hard to clean up after 10 messy toddlers and clean the toddlers who have smeared stuff all over themselves. The snot and crying is incessant. it's not easy work at all. The pay? Under a tenner an hour with zero career progression. it was in short soul destroying. I was there to make up numbers.

Now consider the practitioners, okay they're working to a qualification but still how much is their pay? I believe it's not much more.

Simply not worth it. This is why they're short staffed. They need to pay staff more. You're also risking very low quality people coming into jobs like this who take anger out on the children. The children are treated like dogs, sit down, stop doing that, come and put a hand print on a piece of paper quickly so we can take a photo and pretend to your parents we engaged with you.

This was a private nursery. Horrible place.

Lol I’d dearly LOVE to look after my baby myself, but then would not be able to keep the roof over our heads. Unfortunately we live in a society that makes that nigh on impossible and yet we STILL have to put up with judgemental comments like the one above, it makes me sick.

My DD has only came home from nursery once (she was sick twice) in over three years

We've never had an issue with staff shortages

The nursery is a National chain, not sure if that makes a difference. They've been brilliant

DD has been in nursery full time since July 2021 and not once have they had a staffing issue that has effected us. But they pay their staff above minimum wage and agreat benefits system and have low turnover. The result for us of course is the fees are £1500 a month but they are beyond reliable and they are a truly great nursery. Its cripped us financially but its a short term pain.

If they are that unreliable and it is going to effect your work, then I would look around at other nurserys if you can afford it.

OP, I don’t know if this is in any way a possibility for you but when we’ve needed emergency childcare at the last minute, I’ve WFH and used sitters.co.uk to have someone in the house keeping DD entertained (but while I’m still around to make sure they don’t do a runner with DD IYSWIM). Not perfect in the slightest (I know, I should be looking after my own child FT and not working to keep a roof over her head) but has got us through a couple of nursery availability instances.

I doubt it was a runny nappy from just teething if your DC was kept off for 48 hours. Unless it was an excuse for them to reduce ratio.

From what I’ve heard it’s a very bitchy environment with a marked ‘hierarchy’ but I’m sure not all nurseries are like that.

You need a private nanny or nanny share.

We chose a CM because although we could afford a nanny, it’s preferable for us to have a quiet work space from home.

CM is nearly expensive as a nanny but when you factor in food costs, heating, electricity with a nanny on top of paying a nanny’s taxes it actually works out a bargain to have a CM instead.

The reason it is expensive or seems so is because hourly rate is cheap but very long hours, so it adds up.

Having a nanny for most people is just not a viable option. I’m a nanny, my hourly rate is 18GPR and of course my employers pay tax and insurance on top. I am very reliable and committed to the children I work with but that comes at a high price. We couldn’t afford one. That’s why I work 40 hours squished horribly into 3.5 days so I get to be with DS when I’m not at work and provide for my family.

The OP stated she has a high position so presumably £18 p/h isn’t an issue for her.

And? She also stated £1200 in nursery fees was a fine