What are parents looking for that Daycares aren't currently providing

[Ciarab17]

I am opening my own nursery. Mums and dads, tell me what you want. What can I do to make your daycare experience the very best for you and your little one?

i would like it not to be stupidly expensive with decent sibling discounts,

i would also like it if my child is ill that i don't have to pay (although i know this will never happen but i can only dream)

basically i would love it so that i'm not bankrupted by it

Some but not all open until 7pm. Even 630pm would be handy

My nursery doesn't offer term time only and whilst I do send ds in some of the time in the holiday so I can get my work done (teacher) I pay out for days he isn't there!

Term time only

school hours only

Good sibling discount

longer opening hours 7am - 7pm

To use common sense in addition to OFSTED and the EYFS framework.

I love that he is outside in all weathers but would like a couple more floating staff as occassionally they seem a little outnumbered.

A real focus on language as I notice that DN who has gone to a childminder has a much better language than my DS.

Staff who can all talk comfortably to the parents. Some of them can only really deal with the kids.

We have school hours and term time options at our nursery already.

My DC's nursery is excellent. It is the little things that make the difference to busy lives:

-nappies and wipes provided.
-Wellington boots and puddle suits provided.
-sun hats provided.
-all home made, healthy, locally sourced food. Love the fact I know where their meat is sourced.
-nursery animals including chicks, guinea pigs, chickens and a lovely Shetland pony my daughter adores.
-staff of mixed ages. They range from 18 up to around 60.
-no screen time. Quite shocked my friend's DD watches films at nursery.
-little beds to sleep in rather than those floor mats some places have. They are just camp bed type things that stack up but much nicer than a mat.
-messy play.
-they teach the babies to sign.
-a decent outside space including mud kitchen.
-good range of crafts.
-dancing everyday to ensure children get lots of exercise on top of playing outside.
-individual planning for each child WRT small group activities. Eg myself and another hmm were due another baby at the same time so they had small group work around baby siblings planned just for them.

I could go on..... Very happy with it all. Of course, it's not cheap there is no flexibility etc but DD loves it and I had to book DS in before he was born to get a place for the end of mat leave when he will be 10 months!

in fact you could just book a viewing at our nursery and copy them

Oh, they have a 'party tea' when it's a child's birthday which all the children in DD's class love

As uninstitutional as possible - home-like.

All staff qualified or working towards the necessary skills, rather than just the bare minimum. So many nurseries near me only see it necessary to have one qualified first aider on the payroll.

Agree with pp about good sibling discount.
Longer hours.

These were the main factors as to why I never went back to work, and am a sahm. Childminders are thin on the ground here, but there are nursery spaces. My dh works long hours, and the job I'd be doing would be shift work, so longer hours would suit as dh could pick up dc.

What about so many days, say 15 per family of discounted holiday that needs to be pre booked. The daycare dd1 went to in Oz discounted 50% if you were away on holiday. But, you could maybe have a limit of above of 15 days that have to be pre booked.

A home from home environment as much as possible. With the feeling of love towards the children and positive encouragement in every aspect.

That to me would be the most important element and the one which is lacking in all the nurseries I have looked at close to us, which is why I haven't returned to work and instead choose to live on peanuts. I just haven't felt any real warmth or affection towards the children in any of the settings I've looked at. Too institutionalised. Whereas where we lived before we had an amazing nursery and dd absolutely loved it.

open Sundays. I have a fried who worked in retail. She was offered the chance to work Friday - Sunday on her return from maternity leave. 4 days' pay for 3 days' work. Except that she couldn't get weekend childcare so couldn't take the job. She had to accept alternative hours across 4 week days.

I guess healthcare staff must have a similar issue.

Staff who can sing and play the guitar and piano. Lots of singing and dancing - so good for language development.

im imagining an xfactor style interview for the singing or big crosses like bgt

Lots and lots of story reading.

I think all carers on site should know child CPR and have a recent training certificate from St John's Ambulance. I only found out recently that this is not the case for most nurseries and the seconds spent finding the only member of staff trained to save a child's life can be fatal

Better trained a MUCH better paid staff. £13k for 40 hours a week is a pittance.

I think to provide puddle suits and wellies is hard work, kids feet are growing all the time.... So many kids are different sizes!

I dunno, a few pairs in each size that are the norm for each room/age group could be picked up cheaply at NCT or charity shops. After a while lost property can be adopted into this

Pasta's list is excellent.

Decent handover info sheets, I often realise I have no clue what my kids ate/did/slept that day.

You can have a cheap nursery,

OR

You can have a good nursery.

Pick one.

Or both. It cant be that hard.

So you would get fantastic professional staff who would be happy with £13,000 per year would you?

And you would get a porpoise built nursery with an acre of land for the same price as a drop in terrapin on an industrial estate?

And in your, say 24 place pre-school room you would employ 4 staff for the same price as a cheap nursery spend on 3 staff?

And the toys that you would get from educational supply catalogues would be the same price as toys cheap nurseries can find at boot sales?

Like to know how you would do it Mrs B.

I agree with tiggy. People say they want flexibility and don't want to pay for holidays etc but that just means the nursery won't pay their staff for holidays and sickness and will just stick them all on zero hour contracts to pass on some savings to parents.

Obviously it would be nice if I didn't have to pay for bank holidays and when DCs are sick but if the consequence of that is poorly qualified, inexperienced staff then I would far rather pay the fees that are currently charged.

The best staff will go where they are treated best and that means fees parents pay will be higher.

Pasta's list is a good one, but TiggyD hits the nail on the head - people aren't prepared, or able to pay for the service they would really like - there HAS to be compromise.

I'd say easy parking for drop offs pick ups is a bonus.
Outdoor access for all, easily, from all rooms is a bonus too, but of course this depends so much on your building.