Drove past my dd walking alongside major road yesterday when she was supposed to be at nursery!

[SwimmingUpHillThroughCustard]

dropped her off at 12.30 an went out to try and sort car out(bumped it earlier in day)..driving back up main road to where i live (nothing around it, just a road/Bridge that go's over the river)and i drove past my daughter with another 8 children and 2 carers from her nursery

my point?..firstly she's full of cold and id requested she not play out in playground today, then, there were 9-10 children all under age of 4 with two adults??i am told that they can take 8 each if they want??!!but how to they keep that many children safe walking along a main road?..it only takes one child to bolt and the others are left with one adult with one pair of hands!
Lastly, when i filled in nursery contracts and it came to the bit about 'outings'..i clearly specified that any outing must be first authorised by myself on each and every occasion.

MY GOD..i am so annoyed, upset and shocked by this..am i totally out of order for feeling like this? is this the norm with most places??

I work in a pre-school and occasionally we have spur of the Moment walks where we look at road signs.. houses etc...

are you sure SwimmingUpHillThroughCustard, that there were 8 other children??? or could you have been mistaken as it does sound rather a lot of children....

think being cold itself weakend your immune syetem that makes you mroe vulnerable to infection
so a grain of truth yes

I was going to post but I'm just going to

parp

being very cold and wet can. But not, I think, your normal, colder air while wearing a coat..
Or the Inuet would have permanent colds

I understood the same as cod re being cold making you8 more susceptible

there was a tv experiment recently with students putting their feet in icey water and the statistical evidence was that the cold did have an affect

did she have her feet in a bucket of icy water then?

I think I saw something recently about a "cold nose" explanation? Viruses already present in the nose kicked into action by low temps? Can't really remember the details, but I think the theory has been around for a while. Full balaclavas then...

She would have had a coat on I would assume?

She wouldn't have been significan't colder than when in the school room without her coat!

We are not talking about a child getting drenshed and chilled, but being outside in a coat.

And TBH, if she isn;t fit enough for that, she shouldn't have been in school, IMHO

And by requesting her to be kept in a play time, you are adding to the supervision that the staff have to do, the same number would be in the playground, and someone would have had to supervise your child indoors....a little unreasonable, since breatimes are needed for the staff to have a pee, a tea or prep for the next set of activities

The ratio concerns me here most - sure DD's nursery have a maximum of 2 or 3 children (under 5yo) per carer. And secondly that you asked them not to take her out without permission, and they didn't follow that.

Do you think DD could have played up because she wasn't allowed to go?

I am afraid I agree with the comment that if your DD was not well enough to go outside - and therefore, join in with normal day to day activities like play time in the garden - then your child really should not be at nursery.

DD's nursery often go out and about for walks, including near and crossing (with lights) a very busy main road. They go to the local shops, they go up and down the road looking at their environment, they go to the botancial gardens, etc. They never ask permission first at all - think I must have agreed and signed something when she joined maybe - and would never think of not giving permission anyway. I love the fact that DD gets to do these things.

DD's nursery also go out in the garden every day at least once, often more times, to play and do activities. This is wther it is cold, hot, rainy, dry, snowing or windy. They just wrap up or don hats and cream (as applicable) and get out there. It has to be really bad for them to not go out for at least a five minute session. And this is despite them having an indoor soft play room.

I choose the nursery because they have so much outside time - garnen and walks.

Probably we all agree here that Swimming's nursery were a bit lax here. Yes, obviously they shouldn't have taken dd out if Swimming had specifically asked them not to. We would probably all have felt the same if someone caring for our child explicitly disobeyed our instructions for no very good reason.

Perhaps all the flack you're getting Swimming is because you make yourself sound a tad over protective by feeling the need to be explicitly consulted over every trip to the local park.

(ducks and runs)

I agree with everything Hulababy said.

I haven't read all your thread but I've got the jist. I have to say having working in murseries for many years it still amazes me the state some parents bring their children to nursery in. I have children whisper to me they were sick this morning but Mummy told me not to tell. Then amazingly a sickness bug is rife in the nursery, which I've then got and passed to my children. Thanks. If they are sick and will not be able to do all the activities available in the nursery on that day because of their illness they should not be their. Its not fair to the other children because that staff member is tied up cuddling a sick child rather than playing and educating your children. Further, the problem with snotty noses is that A) we are constantly cleaning them which we must make sure we do because B) the children cuff it and then either pass the cold to other children and/or manage to pass it to their eye, thus causing conjuntivis. This is very nasty.

You are right about ratio's, very concerning and quick dangerous

Personally if i were that cheesed off with the nursery, as you clearly are, then there is no way I would send my child there.

Have only skim read this but the staffing ratio for 3-5 year olds is 1 adult to 8 children. You should also sign a form when your child starts pre-school giving permission for them to go on trips (however you define that) for insurance purposes.

Should have said this is the legal minimum requirement - it's obviously higher for under 3's

The legal requirement is 1 staff member to 8 children aged 3-5. I believe the OFSTED guidance for outings is worded somewhat loosely along the lines of ensuring safety, without actually specifiying you need a higher ratio to go out.

However, I cannot imagine that any GOOD nursery would allow children out on a walk outside the grounds with a ratio of 1 to 8. It is just not safe. All it takes is one child to run.

At my nursery, I recently had to argue with the manager to drop the ratio frmo 1 adult to 2 children, to 1 to 3 children to ensure that the children got out more often to the library. Although I own the nursery, I would not make a policy change without discussing it with her first and making sure she was ok with it. And I had to work very very hard to convice her. In the end, we agreed that all the children would wear bright yellow vests ontop if their clothes and ALL children would wear a wrist strap. This would ensure we would never be in the terrible position of having a child run into the road.

There is no way I would agree to outings for my own children that had the sort of ratio being discussed here. I would ahve been the parent insisting on a call before any outing and I would be questioning them on ratios and where they were going before agreeing. And I would certainly expect my wishes as a parent to be carried out.

I am not over protective as a parent. However, as a nursery owner and a mum, I am fully aware of the dangers no matter how well behaved you the children are and how competant you think the staff are.

As to whether ths particular child should have been at nursery seems totally beyond the point.

I am currently doing a qualification in Pre-school Practice and we have been told it's recommended to have 1 adult to 2 children for outside trips so each child has an adult hand to hold. I'd be a little worried as a carer to work on a higher child ration than this especially in a busy area.

This wasn't a 1:8 ratio though, if I read correctly it was 2:9?

Swimming - if you're concerned then have a word with them. Redefine your understanding of 'trip', and clarify exactly what your instructions mean - you are the customer. I don't think I would mind too much if I were you, but you need to be happy with your child's care.

I believe the child in question here is actually under 3

wow, can't believe this is still going on!
Just to add tho' I recently checked out a childminder and was not at all happy at her declared confidence in being able to take
ds2 in pram + 3 5 yr olds walking along busy local roads - NO-way! Not safe, will have to look for more realistic, safety-aware childminder.

it seems a lot of people are more concerned with my daughters snotty nose than the actual problem i posted?

my smaller grievance was with the nursery firstly for telling me yes this was ok to keep her in with one group, then disregard my request altogether.
as i have said, they push for us to bring children in if its just a cold and normally(with old-not left staff)are happy to give them something to do indoors

my main grievance was that my daughter whos not yet three was walking (no one holding her hand) with 8 other children(there were actually 9 including her)all of the same age or younger(one little girl was 20 months, i have since heard from her mum!)along a very busy road when i had specified that she should remain on nursery premises at all times unless i am given 'prior notice'..if it was unclear about this being an actual outing, they should have still spoke to me to clear it up before they took her!

my problems
1.staff telling me one thing and doing another
2.staff not adhearing to correct ratio of children at this age per adult, meaning my daughter was not suitable covered and safe.

i am in contact with the nursery and have someone coming over today..and thankyou for all you caring parents who have seen the real issue and not thought i was over reacting FGS.. shes my daughter..i can be as protective of her as i want..she go's to nursery, so im not that bad?!
if others are happy to not no where their children are at any point through the day, thats your decsision, but i am!

it seems a lot of people are more concerned with my daughters snotty nose than the actual problem i posted?

my smaller grievance was with the nursery firstly for telling me yes this was ok to keep her in with one group, then disregard my request altogether.
as i have said, they push for us to bring children in if its just a cold and normally(with old-not left staff)are happy to give them something to do indoors

my main grievance was that my daughter whos not yet three was walking (no one holding her hand) with 8 other children(there were actually 9 including her)all of the same age or younger(one little girl was 20 months, i have since heard from her mum!)along a very busy road when i had specified that she should remain on nursery premises at all times unless i am given 'prior notice'..if it was unclear about this being an actual outing, they should have still spoke to me to clear it up before they took her!

my problems
1.staff telling me one thing and doing another
2.staff not adhearing to correct ratio of children at this age per adult, meaning my daughter was not suitable covered and safe.plus..i 'thought' she was in the nursery, where i left her!

i am in contact with the nursery and have someone coming over today..and thankyou for all you caring parents who have seen the real issue and not thought i was over reacting FGS.. shes my daughter..i can be as protective of her as i want..she go's to nursery, so im not that bad?!
if others are happy to not no where their children are at any point through the day, thats your decsision, but i am!

soory, p.c on the go slow..thought it hadnt sent!

hope the nursery can sort it out for you.