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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

TV at nursery

101 replies

tomps · 24/02/2005 00:16

Do you think that watching an hour or so of tv at nursery every day can be justified when there are paid staff watching who could easily be leading a singalong or reading stories or just encouraging the kids to have a lie down and relax if necessary ? I don't, so I'm going to complain, but I'd appreciate your views.

OP posts:

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Xena · 24/02/2005 00:19

Am surprised its everyday my DS went to a day nursery and it was rare that they watched TV.

highlander · 24/02/2005 00:21

sounds like an excuse for the staff to sit on their arses

Fran1 · 24/02/2005 00:22

Used to work in nurseries myself, we used to bring a tv/video in at Christmas so the children could "wind down" with a video after Santa had been to visit, but that was the only time we ever had a tv in the building.

I agree with you, i think children get enough tv at home (my dd has mastered the on/off button on ours and how to find cbeebies ). Paid staff should do their jobs.

I seem to remember ofsted don't approve off tv's so it's probably a subject that has been discussed many times before. Maybe you could suggest to the Manager that she sends out a questionnaire to all the parents and follow the majority vote.

Gwenick · 24/02/2005 00:24

Tricky one really - if my DS was to be watching TV at nursery I'd be quite shocked - but he's only there for 2.5hrs a day.

BUT, there are children that are there from 8am-6pm (well that's how long they're open for) and if my DS was there for that period of time I would have no objection to him watching 1hr of TV a day (it would be less than he currenlty watches at home )

Xena · 24/02/2005 00:24

I feel abit of a fraud saying that though as I childmind and I allow my after schoolers to watch TV after tea normally for about 20mins.

Original poster

tomps · 24/02/2005 10:33

Fran1 I think that's a good idea about the questionnaire. The more parents I speak to, the more I am finding it's not just me. Noone's really anti tv per se, just find it cheeky that nursery are not open about it, and there are alternatives. Otherwise it's a fantastic place, so I'll see what sort of response I get later.

OP posts:

vict17 · 24/02/2005 10:35

I would be appalled. It isn't what I pay the nursery staff to do. It is their job to entertain the kids.

iota · 24/02/2005 10:36

At my ds2's nursery (daycare 8am-6pm) in the summer the kids usually spend the last hour of the day outside playing if its fine, in the winter they quite often watch a video.

I really don't have a problem with that as the kids have had a long day full of activites and are just winding down for a while

skerriesmum · 24/02/2005 10:37

When we collect ds around 4 his group is often watching TV because that's when the staff do cleaning in the main play areas and I guess that's the only way to keep them quiet in their classrooms. He is there from 7:30 which is a pretty full day so I don't think there's any harm. But it bugs me that they don't mention it in all the fancy marketing brochures and "typical schedules" they hand out to parents!

FairyMum · 24/02/2005 10:38

I know it happens on rainy days in our nursery and I don't like it. Agree with vict17.

dejags · 24/02/2005 10:38

don't think I'd be happy with this, they could spend the time reading or doing other quiet supervised activities.

geekgrrl · 24/02/2005 10:39

mmh, our nursery puts the telly on after lunch whilst the staff eat. It's a very small nursery and I guess they would have problems with levels if they took a proper lunch break. I don't like it much but put up with it (though I did write a letter to the manager when the 2 year olds had been shown Harry Potter - WTF?!)

bundle · 24/02/2005 10:39

i think once a week would be enough, as a treat. why don't you suggest they listen to tapes instead? it's used v sparingly at our nursery and dd1 watches half an hour at school in golden time on fridays.

leglebegle · 24/02/2005 10:44

my nursery asks that you pick up children by 5pm but they will keep them till 6pm, just prefer it if its 5pm. I knew that when I started him there and was fine with that as I get him by then anyway. They have tv from 5 - 6pm for the late stayers and I have no problem with that at all, as it winds them down and they are all sitting there quietly, and its fair enough really as they do ask you to get them by 5pm anyway so we couldn't really expect them to be doing puppet shows! When I have gone at 4pm to get him its play time between 4 and 5pm and its been a nightmare to extract him as he ultimately wants to play so I can see its easier at the end of the day. If it was in the middle of the day I would feel the same as you though.

flashingnose · 24/02/2005 10:48

If it's a day nursery (8-6), I wouldn't have a problem at all with them watching an hour of TV a day. Everyone needs some veg time during the day, surely?

vict17 · 24/02/2005 10:49

flashingnose - do you mean the staff or the kids? If the kids then veg time could be sitting listening to a story, doing jigsaws etc. They get enough TV at home!!

Original poster

tomps · 24/02/2005 10:52

skerriesmum that's exactly my point - if it can be justified then I think they should be more open about it. They always include 'books we've read' on the daily activity sheet so you can talk about it at home, but never 'what we watched on tv'. So when dd's talking about dreaming about stuff she's only seen on tv at nursery I can't even guess if these are good or bad dreams as I have no idea what she's seen.

OP posts:

flashingnose · 24/02/2005 10:54

No I mean the kids. If they're there from 8-6, they wouldn't have time to watch TV at home would they? I just don't think TV is evil if used sensibly.

pinkmagic1 · 24/02/2005 10:56

At my sons nursery they put the T.V on while staff are setting up the tables for lunch. I havn't got a problem with this as I was advised before he started there.

Toothache · 24/02/2005 10:59

Doesn't bother me at all! I don't understand why people get so hett up about things like this. My ds's nursery the kids were allowed to watch a video that one of them had brought in if they had behaved throughout the day and tidied up at the end. The kids were always watching videos when we collected Ds. It was just something that they did as routine at the end of the day. So what???

He was happy, the other children were happy, the nursery nurses were sitting with them and talking about the video!

lockets · 24/02/2005 11:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Toothache · 24/02/2005 11:03

Very true lockets. I'd be suspicious if they were sitting watching This Morning.... or Des and Mel.

paolosgirl · 24/02/2005 11:07

Toothache - completely agree with you. A bit of TV is fine. The staff have probably spent 99% of the day singing, playing, reading etc with the kids, and I can't see what's wrong with a bit of wind-down TV or video for the kids at some point in the day to let them all get their breath back.
Having said that, if they were watching an inappropriate programme or video I'd complain.

Gwenick · 24/02/2005 11:23

absolutely paologirl - lets face it how many of us when the kids want to 'veg out' tell them to do a jigsaw or listen to a story - I certainly wouldn't consider either of those activities to be 'veg out' ones! Doing both activities requires concentration and thought from the child.

Toothache · 24/02/2005 11:26

Ahem... Boogie Beebies requires quite a lot of thought and concentration!! Ever tried to do one of their dance routines??? I must have 2 left feet.

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