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?

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

You were telling them the truth, but others won't be. It's easy to email and say my child is still unwell. When the reality is they're locked in their room with injuries the parent doesn't want the nursery to see.

It's horrible to think about but it does happen, and a nursery would be failing in their duty of care if they ignored an absence which has lasted almost 2 months.

Think about it from an alternative perspective.

You know he is off with an illness. From the nurseries safe guarding point of view they know you are telling them he is off for a long time with an illness but how do they know he hasn't been beaten black and blue and shoved down the stairs. While this is not your reality it is reality for some children that illness absences are a cover for abuse and those that make the papers then prompt lots of hand wringing of 'why did no one check'

They have seen him now and are happy he is ok. That will be the end of it. Don't complain and make them think twice on checking. The next child could be a Victoria Climbe or baby P and safeguarding work is vital.

It's true. It's so heartbreaking to think of the children no one checked in on and were being abused/neglected etc.

My safeguarding policy is based on my LA policy, which does state that if a child is repeatedly absent, to do a visit.

@Isthisexpected safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility

I think they overstepped the mark a little. It's not like they have not seen him at all, he has been in the odd day when he was feeling better. And then he would have been coughing and they could see he was not himself.

They are a private business, not a public authority. The OP didn't have to let them in if she didn't want to.

Checking up for safeguarding reasons is fair enough, but I do wonder sometimes if there is a blurring of private business reasons for doing something disguised as "safeguarding".

It's not something that would make me withdraw him from there but I would have one eye on them in future.

I always find it quite astonishing on here that so many people basically think this kind of thing is nobody’s business and the staff involved are just a bunch of nosy busybodies.
Read the news. Children die because no one was being nosy enough. If you’ve got nothing to hide then it’s really not an issue. You can feel judged all you want, sometimes that’s the only thing that saves that child’s life.

Yes it’s normal and just be thankful that they care enough about your child (or any other) to check they’re not in danger.

No one likes being caught on the doorstep, but I’d feel reassured that I was sending my child to a setting where they genuinely cared about them and his/her welfare. Yes it's unusual for a nursery to do so but 'what if' they didn't and some poor child from the nursery was missing for weeks (months in your case) and then It was later discovered the child was in desperate need of rescuing!!

@crumblingschools apologies m, I’ve just read that back and realised it sounds like I’m shouting at you! I’m not. I completely agree with you. Safeguarding is everyone’s issue.

I would assume it is more likely to be a commercial decision. They probably have a waiting list and your son isn't currently attending. They are probably seeing if he really is ill, or if something else can take his place.

They've massively overstepped here.

If providers have concerns about children's safety or welfare they must notify agencies with statutory responsibilities without delay.

I think they did the right thing tbh. A safeguarding check to make sure the child is safe and well and that the parents are telling the truth isn't beyond the scope of even a private nursery.

If it saves one child's life, it is worth it.

PPs who have said the nursery should report concerns to the appropriate agency - I'm sure the OP would rather not have an unsubstantiated concern reported to social services as this opens up a whole can of worms which will take much longer to disprove than a drop in visit.

Social services are massively under pressure and overworked due to low staff numbers and high case loads - everyone should do their bit to keep kids safe imho.

2 months is a long time and they were just making sure your child was ok.

Life with a newborn is really tough and then to have a sick child as well - I hope you're ok (not meant in a patronising way).

I would hate this but I’m sure you can understand that advance warning defeats the point of a safeguarding check in these circumstances.

@HollyBollyBooBoo schools do eyes on visits too.

@crumblingschools agree. A nursery for a 2 year old should not do unannounced visits. If they have concerns they escalate them, they don't pop round to someone's home.

@HollyBollyBooBoo and if the nursery is part of a school?

Are you getting the two year funding or vulnerable in any way? It sounds like a welfare check

Totally different government guidance, no relevance to the policy whether it's part of a school, early years policy is still the same.

I'm saying that there are procedures in place for safeguarding. Just as I wouldn't expect a church playgroup leader to pop in, or a lollipop lady...

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility to report, not to investigate!

It was a safeguarding check. They needed sight of your DS to see that he was actually OK.

There are children who are kept off school and are not safe. Sara Sharif is one example.

@HollyBollyBooBoo so are you saying YR children don't have an eyes on check either

Better to be safe. Kids have died because nobody checked up on them

They did the right thing. They saw child was safe. You and house being a mess is irrelevant.
The other option would be a referral to children's services over a concern. Which appears in this case not appropriate and a waist of everyone's time. Would you prefer a social worker turning up?
Or ignore , do nothing and hope it's not a repeat of the many recent cases of child abuse and neglect .The fear of it being would be enough to give anyone who works with children sleepless nights
On balance a quick knock on the door and you ok seems the best option really. Everyone assured child is ok and gets on with the day.

Society needs to step up with safeguarding children. We have to accept people will check up on children including knocking on the door if not been seen for a while.

Of course they haven't overstepped the mark! They have a duty of care. Safeguarding is absolutely their responsibility. Imagine if they hadn't checked and something had happened to the child? Damned if they do, damned if they don't. All the cries of outrage on here are absurd. You only have to read the news! Of course no one wants to be made to feel like they're doing something wrong, or being caught with a messy house or looking a mess yourself. But that really isn't the point of these visits. Ofsted actually ask the question to childcare providers - what would you do if you hadn't seen a child in x number of days? If they had come out and you hadn't answered the door, or they hadn't lay eyes on your child then the next stage in their Safeguarding procedures would have been triggered and they would have contacted their local MACH team as a matter of concern.