Big chain nursery ok?

[theotherfossilsister]

Are big chain nurseries ok? The only one we have been offered is Busy Bees. I liked the idea of somewhere not a chain so we wouldn't have the layers on management in the way. I'm also maybe bring hesitant as I want more time with my baby, but realistically we ought to send him in August

From a totally different nursery chain. Definitely not Busy Bees and I'm not pretending or anything like that...

They sometimes did a starter and a main for lunch rather than main and pudding. One day the starter was "garlic bread". It was half a slice of value white sliced loaf with a smear of garlic butter. Total cost 2 or 3 pence.

Toy boxes containing collections of Happy Meal toys. No real educational value but probably only £1 from a car boot sale.

At one place I suggested we take the outdoor spiral fire escape down to the garden but was told we couldn't as it wasn't fixed to the wall at the top and was dangerous.

A box of Sticklebricks and copycat Sticklebricks that were different gauges and wouldn't fit together. Nobody was bothered about the end result of children playing with them.

A wooden playhouse in the garden which had the door missing. And the windows were broken. And the roof had holes and leaked. Which was why the floor had totally gone. And some of the planks in the walls were also missing.

Generally poor staff with poor morale with very high staff turnover and lots of supply staff.

Not busy bees, but do have experience of the small locally owned nursery being taken over by a national chain - it was a terrible move, the kids suffered, and the staff turnover was huge. If my son had been more than 6 months from school, we'd have removed him.

Kids left with wet pants after an accident, no loo roll in their bathrooms, genuinely being told at pick up "we miscalculated the number of kids today, so they've had half a portion of dinner each".

That nursery still has a better reputation than the local Busy Bees. I've steered well clear with DS2.

I worked at a busy bees nursery and it's was pretty awful and I knew that I'd never want to send my child to one of them or any large chain nursery. But I fully appreciate there could be decent busy bees nursery's out there though!

My dc we’re at a small locally run nursery. It was fine no issues. Then it got taken over by busy bees.

a million times better. Better procedures in place. New toys.

Interesting reviews on Glassdoor. Mostly negative but every now and then you get a glowing one using language that only a person high up in management would ever use.

My local Busy Bees was great for my boy, really professional, caring staff and well run, and they even used to do the occasional perk for parents like pick up a coffee and bacon roll on your way to work - it felt like a really nourishing experience all round!

We had to switch nurseries at age 1.5 so he’d already had 6 months in an independent village nursery. That one just wasn’t so warm and friendly, and the space was smaller (so babies napping on top of toddlers playing, instead of separate rooms for the younger ages).

I think you really have to visit and get a feel for the staff, how things are run, do things look cared for, are the adults responsive to the children etc - every setup will be different because the people who are there day to day are different.

Do you have a local Facebook group that you could post on to ask about people's experiences of that specific branch?

I know 3 people who've used Busy Bees, 3 different branches.

One had a horrific experience with staff shortages and being told last minute that he son couldn't go in on almost a weekly basis.

One had an ok experience but did complain about staff turn over and her DC having a different keyworker every 3-6months.

The other absolutely raves about it, and thought it was amazing.

Thank you. Lots of food for thought here. I could just about afford to take another six months and wait for a family run nursery. Maybe that would be better after all?

The busy bees nursery hasn't had a care report since 2018

It really depends on the individual nursery. Visit and some, you'll get a feel for them.

yeh that’s what we did, went for the one with the best feel during the visit after observing kids, staff etc etc.
We looked at several and had it down to two very different nurseries - a big chain one, low fees, with lots of extra activities eg rugby tots etc, chef on site who caters to allergies etc etc.
then a small family run nursery with a lovely garden growing fruit etc, music teacher, visiting primary teacher, but provide our own lunch & nappies etc .
so they both ticked different boxes, and the bigger one provided more financially and was much cheaper, , but we had a better feel for the smaller nursery and and thought LO will be there 4 years, a long time for a little one, so we are going with that. It will cost more but we can make it work.

DS is at a chain. We mostly like it, but there are a few issues due to it being a bigger business.

• There is reasonably high turnover with management and kitchen staff
• The chain only uses one agency, so if there is a shortage of staff due to illness, it has closed rooms and turned away children
• Staff (most of whom are fabulous) are paid lower, more stagnant wages
• Inconsistent kitchen staff means meals are often the same week after week and not following the set menu

DS loves his nursery and staff, so we aren't going to move him. But I would definitely take those things into account before signing up a new child.

We actually really liked it although the manager went on about how small DS is. A lot of folk do to be fair but it's a bugbear as he has IUGR

It has a forest school element which I like a lot. Also the children seemed happy. And the baby room was lovely.

We've paid deposit but I'm having wobbles. It's care inspectorate report is fours and not sure what this means? Might ask scotsnet but feel like I'm a spammer asking lots on here

What’s IUGR?
I think 4s mean good? 5 is very good and 6 is excellent? I think 4 and up is ok?
maybe you can read what they got the 4s for and what is recommended they do etc. Sometimes when you read the details it might not be something that bothers you. I think a 4 is not something they do bad or wrong, but with 4s the care inspectorate May recommended they add something else onto the curriculum, ask children more open ended questions etc
also I have seen some nurseries bounce between 4 & 5 year to year and the standard is probably pretty much the same each year…
and being recommend to do something is not the same as something they have to do by a certain date etc.
it is important I think to go with what feels best for you too.
i actually felt better about one nursery I saw with 4s than I did about another one with 5s…

I don't have experience of chain nurseries but when I was looking at nurseries for DD Busy Bees was the most expensive per day in my area and they charge for bank holidays which the others didn't.

Thank you @Bree82

They also haven't been inspected since 2118

IUGR is a condition where a baby doesn't grow in the womb for the last trimester xx

Sorry I should have said different IUGR babies stop growing at different points. DS stopped third trimester

My 16 month old has been going to a busy bees since 9 months. They’ve been amazing. They deal with his allergies really well, they’ve been learning his second language, they do signing with him, they just love him and I love them! He’s absolutely thriving there and the staff are wonderful.

Yeh I can’t speak for all nurseries - but we have gone for small family run.

they close 2 weeks over summer, and 2 weeks over Christmas and don’t charge for that. They are open the rest of the year including bank holidays apart from good Friday and Easter Monday (which I am not sure if they charge for those days or not but if they do at least it’s only two days…)

the closure over summer and Christmas suits us but I know maybe not for everyone? The bug chain we looked at was open 51 weeks. I thought most private nurseries were open for the majority of bank holidays? (Minus Easter & Christmas …)

Oh ok thanks. I learn something knew everyday!

Yeh the big one we looked at has an on-site chef who caters to allergies very well (feedback from other parents)
we went for small family run but had it down to that one and the big chain one as nothing wrong with either and both had different positives. In the end we went with the one we felt the best fit for us personally.

they both ticked many boxes.

for example, the big one provides lunch, the small one doesn’t. (Probably not that cost effective).
they both have extra activities from outside - the big one more sport focused and the small one more music focused. So both have very good points and it’s down to personal feel really -

I looked at loads of nurseries- chains and independent and they were all a mixed bag.

I think that the setting, local mgmt team and staff have the biggest impact and that's what combine to give you the right "feeling", and that's what you need to go on.

We did go with a busy bees and never had any issues but it will vary massively from site to site.

I am formerly a Childminder; all settings must have policies. There are a few statutory policies they need but the rest are at their own discretion. For that reason I'd say not to base a decision on policies. I used to have circa 15 policies for my own and children's protection. The policies to really be aware of are sickness, fees, emergency evacuation and potty training.

My DH has worked for all of the big chains over the years. In terms of staff treatment and turnover they're all as bad as each other. Busy Bees was definitely the worst for staff morale, with regular threats for being off ill and holiday being regularly cancelled short notice leading to extremely high staff turnover. Will never forget when DH told me when the manager criticised the staff for lack of activities and said "it doesn't matter what you do with the children, so long as you look like you're doing something"! Not a planned curriculum with intent or working to children's interests or next steps.

Chain nursery menus should be great though. Nutritionally balanced and healthy, cooked from scratch. Obviously this will vary depending on things like staff absence, produce availability and kitchen equipment, but that's the same for any nursery providing food.

There is a busybees around the corner from me in E17, it has an appalling reputation locally as it can’t keep staff and every other month they let handful of parents down because of the ratios.