Child alone at nursery

[MrsBridge]

I’ve just gone to pick up my 3 year old from nursery. I went into the room they didn’t know where she was and said to try the other room. I did, still no sign and they had no idea either. So they said try the garden, (the garden can’t be seen from the room windows) and there she is completely on her own in the garden. I had words with the manager as I was so angry. What would you do/say?

That doesnt sound good. What did the.manager say?

She said she’ll look into and check the cctv. Am I right to be angry or is it ‘just one of those things’?

I would not be happy with this at all. What did the manager say? They need to be aware where your child is at all times. I would also need reassurance that this won't happen again so you need to ask what they are going to do about it.

No you definitely have a right to be angry. How long would it have taken for them to notice she was missing? Constant head counts are a big part of their job.

They asked YOU to look? I hope they were also running round looking for her?

this is absolutely something to be mad about. I’d be furious. She should not be out of sight or hearing at all at that age (EYFS). I’d be requesting a written statement and an update to their policies to explain how this will not happen again.

Was there definitely no adult in the garden? There should be someone outside if the children can go out, and a headcount when they are back inside. It's worrying that they didn't look, are they always so lackadaisical?

Terrible.

The number of times I see posters on here say they've chosen a nursery over a nanny/childminder because more people means their child is safer; this perfectly illustrates why they're so, so wrong.

EYFS states children should be within hearing at all times, and usually within sight, of staff. I wouldnt be happy about this either seeing as nobody knew where she was!

Very good point. How long would it have taken them to notice. I’m just so angry and upset by it

Appealing. I’d be more angry that they weren’t completely panicked that she was missing and extremely apologetic and upset. I wouldn’t want to send her back there at all or at least until the seriousness was understood.

my DSD managed to get off the nursery grounds onto the streets on multiple occasions and in two different nursery’s which is the reason why I haven’t been able to send my dc. There’s too many dc to not enough adults and they just don’t care about them like we would, they’re just doing a job that most of them hate.

yep, just me. It was only for a minute or so but honestly I was shaking

Yep definitely. She was the only one. No other adult or child. It’s always chaotic there but I just assume that’s all nurseries?

That's really bad. I usually work in school nurseries and we would always have a staff member outside if the door was open and do a head count when we all came in. In a busy nursery setting I can understand not being aware of the location of a particular child but I would always be confident that every child was in sight or sound of an adult.

No. Not all nurseries at all. I’d definitely not describe my children’s nursery as chaotic. They’d never not know which room or garden she’s in.

This suggests they are not doing headcounts regularly.

Get their complaints procedure and ask manager what they are doing with this incident. Dd2 used to work in a nursery and says they should report the incident to offsted.

Thanks. I’m going for a meeting first thing and to look at cctv with a full explanation of what happened. What they will do to stop it happening again. I will then think about getting ofsted involved

Ok thanks. I need to think about what to do now then. I came on here for other opinions to make sure I’ve a right to be very angry and for them not to brush me off as just a ‘neurotic mum’

two things: my daughter's nursery is just an open door to outside, so the kids can go in and out as they please. The garden is completely secure and there's lots of windows so even if she was outside on her own, the staff inside could definitely see her so it was never a concern of mine (she also plays outside on her own at our home, 3 sounds perfectly old enough to do that as long as within earshot)

However, this is really really common with nurseries unfortunately. One of my friends has worked in nurseries and kids are constantly going missing/being picked up by the wrong person/being left alone (obviously not in her rooms lol!). She worked in 5 very highly sought after nurseries and left last year to become an independent childminder as she just couldn't deal with it anymore. A lot of nurseries these days employ under trained and very under experienced staff!

There was a case a few years back where a little girl was strangled by a skipping rope on a slide. She was outside with no staff eyes on her. Since then we have been a lot more aware of children being unsupervised outside as the risks are higher. I'm glad you are meeting the manager to make them aware that this was not safe.

Id be furious too, well done for demanding answers. I cannot imagine this situation ever occuring at the nursery my daughter was at.

You’re right, I’m happy for my daughter to play outside in the garden on her own, as long as you can see her. At her nursery though the garden is behind a high wall so you can’t see any of it all from the room. It’s definitely making me think about going down the childminder route. Thanks

This happened to my now adult son and the way they reacted couldn't be more different.

Same thing - went to pick up, front of the line - my child is not sitting waiting on the floor where they have just finished story time.

Members of staff spring into action and start hunting in the toilets/cloak room and outside areas. Found alone in the garden - with another parent talking calmly to them through the fence for reassurance.

Massive apologies. Immediate investigation. Disciplinary procedure and personal apology from the individual who did not count him inside.

My child - not at all bothered. Me - felt reassured that they would not be doing it again.

This is a serious incident. Children must be within sight or hearing of staff at all times, that is a requirement.

I'd expect a meeting with the manager and for them to have investigated and found out exactly what went wrong and have a plan to ensure it doesn't happen again.
I'd also expect them to have reported themselves to Ofsted but if they won't, then you can.

Thanks. The manager was interviewing all the staff this afternoon and I’ve got a meeting there in the morning. It’ll be interesting to see if she mentions ofsted before I do

Definitely report to ofsted, this is really serious and other parents should be made aware IMO.
is dd going back there tomorrow?