Nursery home visit unannounced

[fifi113]

So my 2 year old had been unwell from around beginning of December with croup, bronchiolitis etc I've kept him off nursery for the most part as I have a newborn and didn't want to get him worse. I took him on days where he wasn't coughing so bad and then kept him off other days. After the xmas hols his cough didn't go away and mainly kept him up at night so I emailed the nursery and said he'd come in next week (this week) as he's still not fully recovered. Then randomly one morning 2 members of staff from the nursery came to visit unannounced. My house was a mess after the breakfast rush. Also I looked a mess. They mentioned they came to check how DS was doing, I felt as though they were judging me. I'm really paranoid as even though they received an email from me they still came to my home. Is this normal protocol. I can understand why they'd want to see him but maybe a phone call before hand would've been better? Am I overthinking? DS is back at nursery now but should I mention it to the nursery?

If they bought a gift or get well card from the other kids and you don’t live miles away, ok could be genuine check in. Knock on door quick hi wouldn’t expect to be invited in when you have a newborn and a sick child.

What kind of things did they ask? If it’s private nursery and you are keeping them updated can’t really see the need. If they had genuine concerns over his welfare that should been passed further up. You don’t “investigate” things yourself. So on that would say just misguided checking rather than accusing you of anything more. Maybe next time don’t open the door.

I'm torn because I would absolutely hate this and see it as a massive imposition and like you would worry the house was a mess and I wasn't dressed/showered etc.

However when you see the tragic cases of child neglect and abuse in the news people always ask how was this allowed to happen and if only someone had noticed.

So on balance it's probably better to slightly overstep boundaries than miss the chance of protecting a child who needs it. - I'm not suggesting that is the case for you by the way.

There have been so many safeguarding cases recently where a child wasn't checked up on and something awful has happened they are just wanting eyes on him to make sure he's OK. They won't care what you looked like or that your house was a mess, just that he was ok. Don't stress about it.

It’s a safeguarding check. Better be safe than sorry.

Yea I'd hate it however it's been almost 2 months since he's properly been at nursery, it is a really long time, practically unheard of so I get why they came.

I would always the mild inconvenience of something like this if it made it more likely that a (different) child in danger would be identified

It isn't their place to do this at all. They should have contacted your child's GP if they had safeguarding concerns for a child not attending any more.

@Isthisexpected why would they contact the GP?

I know schools do this for long absences but school isn't compulsory until age 5, loads of children are at home full time anyway at age 2 so I can't think there's any obligation for them to do this.

Anyone reading the news in the last 4 weeks can understand and appreciate why they might have felt this was a good idea.
A little boy died due to no one making the effort that these nursery workers have made. Be grateful that your child’s nursery care enough to go out of their way to check he is safe and well.

I would also hate this but I think they do really care about your ds. They haven't made a safeguarding referral they've just double checked he's ok so I think they're a good nursery and you should give them the benefit of the doubt that they had your ds best interests at heart.

Id hate this, but the consequences of missing safe guarding checks can be horrific. I would rather the system be overzealous and resulted in me being checked unnecessarily instead of concerns being ignored and another child potentially facing abuse or death.

This.

@Isthisexpected Why the GP @ What would you expect them to do ?

I understand what people are saying about safeguarding, but nursery isn't essential and nursery staff aren't authority figures. I don't think this was a safeguarding thing, I think its a business thing and they are checking that you aren't placeholding.

It isn't the nursery's place to do this. What exactly would they have done if they'd found anything untoward? Presumably, raise their concerns via the appropriate channels. Which is precisely what they should have done in the first place rather than turning up at your house unannounced and uninvited.

I would hate this so can understand how you feel. However safeguarding checks on children who have been away fir a long time are now common. How long was your son off nursery? Think about some of the tragic cases you read about. They would be criticised for not checking on welfare.

What do you mean placeholding?

Places are limited and nurseries have to turn children away. If a child has a place and not using it regularly- it is deemed 'placeholding'- especially if people on waiting list are considered to have a real need of a place, for any reason.

No one likes being caught on the hop, but I’d feel reassured that I was sending my kid to a setting where they genuinely cared about him and his welfare.

They won’t have cared if the house was a bit messy- clean laundry sitting out means kids are kept in clean clothes, toys all over the place means they have access to appropriate play materials etc.

Thank you all for the replies, they didn't ask many questions other than about his health, has he been prescribed anything etc. I understand from a safeguarding point of view and that he was off for a long time. But just wondered if it was normal for them to come unannounced. I was wondering whether or not to bring it up to them that I didn't like that they came like that without warning but then if it's normal then I completely understand. I was just fully thrown off that day.

I think they absolutely did the right thing. Safeguarding is so important and they need to check and see for themselves that he is safe. He’s been off a very long time.

And yes it was inconvenient and yes it would be nice to be warned they were coming, but that would give someone time to cover up any issues - so no they were not being unreasonable.

I think the whole point of a safeguarding check is not to tell you that they're coming though? I know that this must have been quite upsetting but he's been off a long, long time.

Completely understand now, I was keeping them in the loop about his health aswell since he was off but I get the concern

Most people would prefer a knock on the door from a nursery staff member than a social services referral

Agree, better to be safe than sorry