Is this my sons fault or nursery’s fault?

[Mummymummymummyy]

I just had an email from my 4years old pre school saying there was an incident today and I need to sign the form when he next comes in- as they didn’t mention at pick up. The incident is that he opened the fire door which leads to the nursery main door which opens onto a busy road. The tone of the email is all about how bad it is my son did this and how shocked they all were. It says they they had a talk with him about safety and how bad it is to open the door, and can I also talk to him. I’m glad they took it seriously and mentioned it, but I’m kind of annoyed and wondering if I should be. Surely the issue is that a nursery isn’t properly child proof, if a door can be opened by a child. It’s not like I have taught him to open doors and although of course I will talk to him about it- surely they themselves need to address this. a precious nursery he went to had buttons up high to press to open doors, and buzzers etc.

am I unreasonable to be annoyed?

It’s a fire door at four he is old enough to not open doors when told not to, shocked u think it’s their fault.

Just getting near a door to a main road isn't an issue, is it? Children in school (including 4 year olds) often pass by the main door?

There are a lot of people here who don't seem able to read and comprehend simple English.

The fire door did not open onto a main road.
It was an internal door opening onto a corridor.
The child never left the building.
Children walk about in nursery corridors all the time
There was no safeguarding incident.
The child was seen and appropriate action taken.
Children need to learn not to open fire doors, even at 4 years old.
It would be helpful if parents didn't over react to every thing, and helped their child to understand rules to keep themselves safe.
No wonder nursery and primary teachers are stressed out and leaving the profession in droves.

He is only 4 for goodness sake, and should be being watched when he is near a door he can open, the nursery are trying to fob off their responsibility.

Do you think it is light of the recent news on BBC highlighted the number of accidents which happen in nursery schools when there was an inquiry into the death of a baby through neglect on the part of the staff?

Are they finding someone to blame for their own laxity>

FIND ANOTHER PRE SCHOOL.

If they are not feeling guilty, why make a song and dance of it with the mother?

You comment without knowing the staff ratio.

All the CCTV should be replayed so that the parents and staff know exactly what happened.

If there is no CCTV or not enough cameras then the mother should find another pre-school.

Respond with;

"Thank you for alerting me to your safeguarding incident. Please can I have more details on how my son wasn't prevented from opening this door and almost walking out onto a main road? Please can you advise me how it is possible for a 4yr old to open the door, please can you advise me why my son is being victimised due to your failures and neglect to care. Please can I have the contact details for the chair of the governor's . I will also alert Estyn and the LEA regarding this dangerous incident which has allowed a child in your care go open a dangerous door.

Kind regards ".

I agree with all this. Some of the replies that OP should demand how the nursery will keep her child safe are nuts. They already are.

Nurseries and schools shouldn't be expected to parent. Parents needs to get their kids to respect basic boundaries such as not leaving a room/building without telling the teacher first/asking permission.

There was no safeguarding incident.

Then what's the form for? Why the terrible shock? If it's just a case of a child going the wrong way inside the secure environment? Incidents that you need to sign a form for are either injuries or H&S incidents surely?

If posters are correct that the door has to be openable by children because of being part of the fire exit route, then the same applies to the external door or they haven't actually escaped the fire. In which case there was a risk here.

That seems most logical explanation, but I'll be interested to hear if OP finds out more and feels able to share.

All they want is the OP to explain to her son that the fire door is out of bounds and to remind him to follow the rules.

It's much more effective when all the adults interacting with a child back each other up and reinforce similar rules.

I also work in education. I have also learnt to read.

The child never got through the door, he was stopped in the act of opening it.

It was a firedoor that lead to an internal corridor. There was a second door (presumably securely locked, the op doesn't say) that leads to the road.

A firedoor would be easily opened by anyone with mobility issues, in a wheelchair etc. and so can be opened by a 4 year old.

The nursery are saying the child broke the rules, which he did. He at no point was in actual danger. The nursery staff want his parent to back them up and remind her son that it's important to follow the rules.

Teachers or others in education write similar emails all the time. Rules are most effective when all the adults work together to enforce them.

I’d hazard a guess that during this recent really hot spell they’d actually opened the firedoor to get some additional fresh air flowing, and he’d wandered out into the hallway. They’re now trying to deflect blame.

Even if he did open it, he’s wandered away from the group to get there, opened it, gone through and headed down the hallway before anyone noticed. This is on them, not him.

I’d be asking for their risk assessment relating to “how do we prevent children opening the fire door and wandering off…” At what point since he’s been there has he been explicitly told not to touch or open that door (and fire extinguishers etc) and where’s their evidence of this ‘training’ taking place.

A lot of posters are expecting a 4 year old to be capable of critical thinking and actions/consequences. He’s 4! He’s not going to instinctively know this was wrong.

Not in my school they don’t. The only way anyone can ever get out of any door is by having the electric key to get out! You are missing the point there are major safeguarding issues here! We are talking about the potentiality of a 4 year old getting out onto a main road. You have completely disregarded every other point I have made!
The implication of that and the potential dangers are huge!!

OMG we are talking about a four year old! Not the great escape! 😂

We are talking about a 4 year old who broke the rules of the nursery. That is normal, but so is then sitting seriously down with the child and reminding them that it is important to follow instructions. That's how they learn.

What is not normal is knowing your 4 year old broke the rules and then somehow trying to make it someone else's fault. 4 year olds occasionally hit, or take someone else's toy, or draw on the walls or whatever. The correct response is for the adults in their life to remind them of better behaviour.

And who is going to sit the staff down and explain that regardless of any other circumstances, it’s a major safeguarding issue! That’s the bottom line here, a curious four year old in comparison to a number of staff who are paid to make sure children are safe! If the child had got down towards the door from the exit, and somehow ended up out and on the main road, we would not be discussing whether a four year old who doesn’t know any better, broke the rules! You are completely missing the wider issue! The child is four, it has nothing to do with rules and everything to do with safeguarding!

But the child wasn't in danger at any point? All he had time to do was open a door, he was stopped before he could even go through it.

If it turns out the second door (to the road) was wide open and the child was 3 steps away from traffic, then I would be as horrified as anyone on this thread.

But the OP never said anything of the stort. From what she wrote, her child never even managed to leave the room.

You are still missing the wider safeguarding point here!

unfortunately we will have to agree to differ and leave it there.
enjoy the bank holiday!!

You too!

They can't watch all 20 plus children every second. So someone noticed pretty quickly from the sound of it and stopped him. Adult could have turned round for a few seconds and then turned back. It doesn't take long for young children to start messing with things they shouldn't..

You have just made most of this up. The child opened the door. That is all he did. He didnt wander away, go down a corridor or anything else. Presumably the door was not propped open as the child opened it. It would have been pointless opening the door for fresh air anyway as it was an internal leading to a hallway. Children in nursery have free flow play. They won't all be in a little group, it is impossible to have eyes on every child for every second.
It was not a fire exit if it led to an internal corridor. It was a fire door which is designed to stop heat, smoke and flames entering the room to allow the occupants to escape via the fire exit Which would lead outside.
All the nursery are doing is asking the parents to back them up in the child understanding that he shouldn't open the door. Nurseries and schools have regular fire drills and a children are reminded often about things they can and can't touch, open, play with etc.

A fire door and a fire exit are not the same thing. The child didn't open a fire exit he opened the fire door which led to an internal hallway.
A fire door is designed to stop heat, flames and smoke entering the room for a predetermined amount of time to allow the occupants of the room to escape via the fire exit which will lead outside, usually to a muster point in the grounds at a safe distance.
A fire door may look like any other door and most doors in education settings will be fire doors. They can either be shut at all times, sometimes alarmed so that tne alarm will.sound if someone opens it when they shouldn't. Sometimes they will be left open with a mag lock which is wired into the fire alarm system and designed to shut as soon as the alarm goes off.
A fire exit leads directly outside, it is the type of door that had a bar to push or sometimes just a small lever.
Education settings test their fire alert systems on a weekly basis to ensure all alarms and fire doors do as intended and all exits are working as tbey should.

This is definitely the nursery's safeguarding issue and absolutely not the fault of you or a little 4 yr old being curious.
I'd be avoiding at them , I report them so as it can be looked into.
Accident waiting to happen.

Reporting them I mean .