Concern about this nursery

[Upsetworker]

Hi all, I've name changed for this.

I have just started working at a nursery as bank staff so only a few hours daily sometimes.

I do not have qualifications BUT i have children of my own and have worked in 2 other previous nurseries and have done childminding, all these were done about 15 years ago, i am only now my children are all older getting back into it.

So my concern i would like to know other child practitioners ir even parents views on this.
First and for most bar 1 or 2 all staff are rude and not friendly at all.
I work mostly in the baby room and i am continuously being told (shouted at) to put the babies down and let them cry it out as they are 'fine' or 'can not be help or cuddled all the time' now i only do this when they are upset, my girst natural instincts is to sooth a crying baby (5-8 months most ages) they are at the point where they are hyperventilating red faces, snot and nearly being sick, i had enough so i cuddled the little baby and was then again told stop it, if you must atleast turn them away from you so you aren't cuddling them.
BUT if a parent comes to pick another child up i am told to pick baby up so they dont hear it.

Another thing, my 2nd week the head room leader or what ever they call them selves got all the sand out, some messy play i thought was lovely, she put a apron ona child, i went over to ask if she needed help putting aprons on others she says no, this is her key child and needed pictures, so i had to pull the little walkers that would heading over away, she proceeds to plonk baby in front of messy play takes pictures then pulls him away and tidies it up

The manger when we have show arounds, comes down before to make sure 'no crying, no dirty nappies and basically routines out widows if a babycrying we are told to put them to bed or feed early to basically shut them up, and omg the staff go above and beyond are all involved playing interacting cuddling, as soon as parents gone it all stops.

I hate it, financially i can not leave till i found another job as money is sooooo awful right now. 😞

@BodenCardiganNot I mean getting meet play out just to take photos of one kid and then clearing it away again.

Racing around cuddling babies and changing nappies etc when a parent is due in....just do it properly all the time and avoid the panic?

This is totally unacceptable. Please report to ofsted and Lado asap. Those poor babies.

Dear me that sounds horrible! Mainly for the children; you can get up and walk away from that place.
I've worked in a few nurseries- the apprentice s and volunteers are usually kind and patient with the children- some of the qualified staff I've met in private nurseries were the worst people I've met in my life, however, they were generally good with the children.

Get in touch with OFSTED and see what they make of it?

Completely agree, it's exhausting watching them all rush around before parents come. One of the staff had to actually take a baby out of the room as she was crying and they didn't want the parent to see it.

It's very difficult to get anything out of many of them as i do ask but i get ignored alit, im 90% ignored there daily, i absolutely hate it there.
The boss is a nasty bully and has spoke to me like utter crap on more than 1 occasion.

I love my actual job tho, just the people there is awful.

I don't understand why you would work with children if they annoy you or irritate you so much, the comments of 'you are getting on my last nerve today' and ' give it a rest ive had enough' too BABIES

It's not normal but unfortunately not uncommon. Not picking babies up and letting them cry it out especially.
This does sound like a particularly shit nursery though.

The hand foot and mouth thing is down to parent preferences though - parents will kick off if you try to exclude for hfm as the NHS website say they don't have to stay off with blisters.

OP if you don't report this nursery to OFSTED then you are equally complicit in their disgusting treatment of babies.

OP, you're saying how awful it is but haven't said you're going to report it.

You work with children. It is part of your role to safeguard the children in your care. You have to report this to ofsted.

Nurseries are crying out for staff. There will be hundreds of nurseries and agencies wanting you!

To be fair, the hand foot and mouth thing is just following NHS guidance which specifically says no need to stay off nursery or school. So like you say, that would be the case in most, if not all, nurseries.

What’s the first letter of the name of the nursery?

I do think in regards to 'putting on a show' for visitors - parents should take heed a little.

The nursery we used I asked if I could pop in and have a chat and the manager just said 'of course! I can do Tues from 12, Thurs before 1, Fri from 12, just come in during any of those times and we'll show you around'

That was so reassuring compared to some where you book an exact time. And the whole time we used them when picking up or dropping off you could see straight into the main room in front and baby room to the side via the glass door/window, as well as quite often be met and have the staff say 'oh he's just doing X he's having a lovely time would you like to come and watch a minute?' Etc.

I honestly think parents should be able to view at any time in a good nursery and see the standards being kept. Of course at times there will be a bit of chaos/crying but children being reassured/support and distractions given is all that is expected

It's disgusting OP. I'm horrified to read this. Please report them to Ofsted.

God that is awful. If it’s a chain it probably looks like a really nice place and advertises the best food ect…. I hope you can report it.

You can call Ofsted and report this. But in all honesty they won't come out. There needs to be multiple safeguarding issues for that to happen.
If they have other similar previous complaints they might send out a regulatory inspector.
Sadly this is low level incompetence, unskilled workforce, no training, a weak manager etc

I think the best thing to do is follow the whistleblowing policy.

I'd be recording and sending to panorama

This is shocking, please report this.

We went to look at one nursery last year where there was an under one year old baby crying and distressed the whole time and wasn't picked up or comforted once. I wanted to pick her up myself and soothe her it was so difficult to see, the room wasn't busy at all either they just couldn't be arsed it seemed. The fact they do that in front of people coming to look around gave me shivers wondering what it's like behind closed doors.

Definitely report, this is nothing like the nursery I work at. Our babies are cuddled and cared for and get stuck in to all the messy play. They have cots to sleep in in a darkened room. All the things you’d expect for helping babies develop and form attachments to staff.

We have a mix of Early years teacher, level 5, level 4, level
3, level 2 and apprentices. Our young apprentices are amazing, they are very dedicated to their training and the children they care for.

If you don't report to ofsted, you're just as bad as they are. You're complicit.

God, that's awful.

Echo report to Ofsted. If it's judged serious enough then an inspector can come out unannounced and have a look around and speak to staff. If an inspector came out and spoke to you, in a private room, what would you say? Because that's what will make the difference with things like this that are more difficult for an inspector to just see - like there physically being not enough staff working, or the premises being unclean or unsafe. They would need the staff who are concerned to basically blow the whistle. The inspector wouldn't tell the manager who had told them what.

This is more common than people realise. I've seen some shocking places in my time.

It's so sad that we put so little value on care for the most vulnerable in our society- the youngest and the oldest. Pay is terrible so what do we really expect?

You'll get lucky, sure but so many are like this.

This is heartbreaking.
Those poor wee babies.
Please report it @Upsetworker

That sounds horrific. I would make detailed notes, gather evidence, and in a few weeks report them

Not all nurseries are like this. My son went to a truly wonderful nursery and really flourished there and has made some lovely friends. He still talks about his nursery now , he has happy memories . There are some great nurseries, but this one sounds awful and I wouldn't want my child to be somewhere like this, I think OP needs to report what's happening behind closed doors