Complained about Nursery issues - got a 1 month Notice to leave

[Amy04]

I have been sending my 2yo twins to a nursery since a month now. There have been several shortcomings such as:
No updates on the day about my children - what did they do, what did they eat, how are they, their mood, activities, etc. Out of 1 month of going to nursery, I only received updates for 2 days.
Leaving my child with a bottle of milk from the morning till pick up time without cleaning the bottle, adding fresh milk or even trying to help him eat - my son eats well at home and seems to only have milk at the nursery.
Failing to provide warm milk because they cannot leave a member of staff to warm the milk - though they did mention they could warm milk on Day 1.

• a few more issues.

I raised this matter with them. I requested for a meeting to discuss these matters because I said I am not comfortable and I am worried for their well-being if they go to the nursery without having the opportunity to meet the manager and higher up to discuss these matters and come to a solution.

I spoke with them yesterday about this and requested a meeting. They have now sent me a 1 month Notice telling me that their investigation is over and my allegations about no updates and well being are unfounded and they have decided to give a notice.
They also had the cheek to ask if I wanted to send my kids during that 1 month.

I do not want to send my kids somewhere where the people involved in their care are blatantly lying in my face and fobbing me off. I wonder how many more lies I have been told - especially where I notice a change in behaviour and eating pattern of my child.

I dont think it is fair to be charging me with that 1 month nursery fee where I do not plan to send my kids there.

It seems they kicked my kids out because they did not want to deal with the issues I raised.

Where do I go from here?

Is there another nursery available for you to send them to?

It’s reasonable to charge you one month’s notice as long as it’s in the contract.

I would contact Ofsted I'd the situation is exactly as stated. And your local authority.

I guess the question is the reasonableness of some of these issues? What did they advise would be the updates given before you started? I don't get detailed updates as to moods etc.
I'm not sure about the whole milk thing? Is that a special diet? My twins weren't drinking milk during the day at age 2 or having warmed milk except at bedtime so is that a specific request for your children? If so sounds like are struggling with the logistics of it all?

That is the nursery's prerogative, fact

You can do one of two things - go for another nursery and or report them to however autoriese these place with the evidence you have as "lying" is taken very seriously but you need evidence

It sounds like you might be better with a childminder; they can provide more individual care.

Nurseries have to follow a basic routine or it doesn’t work.

Doesn't sound like this was the fit for you.

Sounds like you have been tarred as ‘that parent’ and they don’t want your business anymore. If you’re that unhappy with them why would you want to send the kids there anyway? Find somewhere else that meets your needs. Although really it’s only your children’s needs that matter.

You need to find a new nursery.
I'd hazard that this one is a bit short staffed - hence lack of updates.
If you think they're defective in care, then report your concerns.
It sounds like you haven't got off to a good start here.

They are a Private Business and as such can provide services to whomever they choose (assuming no discrimination).
It sounds like it wasn't a good fit

They have been promising great things about updates and pictures etc but I barely get anything from them. I still dont know, for each day that my kids attended, what activity they did in that place what they ate, when they slept etc.

Oh gosh OP this is awful. How unprofessional of the nursery. I would be livid.

I don’t understand the milk issue, if they’re two then surely they aren’t having a bottle? A nursery won’t have the staff members in the toddlers room to be warming milk and feeding them, it’s a toddler room not a babies room. Saying that, the communication sounds poor and you should at least be having a proper hand over each day. I don’t like updates throughout the day on apps as it means the staff are writing updates rather than looking after the children, but you should be told what they ate, what the did etc on handover at least.

We have always had a handover at pick up for Granddaughter. She has attended two nurseries since 12 months and have never had any handover issues in 3.5 years .

I don't have experience with Uk nurseries, but you aren't wrong to move your children if they advertised as being good at keeping parents updated throughout the week, yet this isn't happening.
I'm not sure about the milk issue, because that sounds a bit more like something you expected to be possible rather than something they would specifically advertise.
However I think that you're just going to have to pay the month if that's what's stated on the contract, and possibly looking for a childminder would be a better option.

Did you not get an update at handover. Given the pressure on staffing, I wouldn't expect anything else honestly.

Because I rarely hear anything and seldom get pictures of my kids, I do make sure I ask them questions at pickup to find out what my kids have been doing.

They now turned this around claiming that I have been asking for excessive communication requests.

As for the milk, they said they cannot leave one staff with the kids and go warm milk which was in another room. They said they can only do that when their 3rd part-time colleague comes in at 10am. So that day, my son was left crying for milk from drop off at 8.30am until 10am.

what do you mean?

Seriously? Imagine you would be the parent that doesn't give a crap about their kids. Sends them in sick.

Sorry but I stopped reading at your 2 year old having a bottle.

Sounds like you might be having a few parental issues and you're transferring these onto the nursery.

But he's 2? He doesn't need "warm milk" I'm assuming you feel him breakfast before he arrived? Crying for 90minutes at that age is just a tantrum

Bottles of warm milk. Reading between the lines OP, you're a lot. Too much. And although some of your comments are fair, this much times two has led to this.

My two year old doesn't get daily updates anymore either. It was one of the selling points of the nursery, but they say they can't do them frequently above the baby room. So we just get a brief update on what he's done at pick-up, if someone is around to chat - "He loved the garden today/He's been out on bikes/He enjoyed painting" etc. Then we get a food menu for the day and how much he's eaten. We don't get nappy updates as he uses the toilet now, although you'd think they'd still update on that, and he doesn't sleep so no sleep updates.

Milk in a bottle at two is a bit unusual - Did they agree they could accommodate that when you joined? Bottles aren't allowed in our toddlers room. Drinks are provided with food, but by nursery, no at home food/drinks are allowed. How many bottles a day is he having? Had he had one at home before 8:30 drop off?

They are correct about ratios. They can't leave the room to go to the kitchen if that would leave the room over-ratio for children. That's for the children's safety, including your child.

It seems that you've raised these as safeguarding requests and they've investigated, decided that they're not - which as a neutral, it does seem that they're not - and come to the conclusion that they can't meet your needs, and you'd both be happier with alternative childcare for your twins.