Nursery Security

[sallycinnamon]

My DD goes to a private Nursery. According to a recent letter to parents they had an OFSTED inspector come round recently following up a complaint. Apparently a parent on a preliminary visit was allowed into the Nursery by another parent who was coming out at the same time. Frankly I'm surprised this hasn't happened before. The front door is operated by a buzzer system by whichever Nursery Nurse is closest to the window. The letter said that security was parents' responsibility and that you should never let anyone in as you are exiting. I'm quite irritated by this response- it is their responsibility! As the front door opens in to a corridor who am I supposed to call out to whilst blocking the intruders path with my body and my child?!
I'd be really interested to know about security arrangements in other nurseries.
They charge enough money I'm sure they could afford some kind of security camera system!

[whimsywhoo]

I did cover work in a nursery with a similar set up which I thought was strange.
in another nursery which I worked in we always used to open the doors ourselves and made sure parents never let anyone else in.

[whimsywhoo]

Wonder if it's the sameone

[sallycinnamon]

Not called Seesaws is it?

[edam]

Sounds reasonable to me - same at my nursery. Parents should not let other people in behind them. Simple. Obvious that you need to protect your child and everyone else's. How on earth are nursery supposed to stop parents who are daft enough to do this? Have someone posted in the hall to rugby-tackle intruders to the ground?

Having said that, my nursery have an entryphone buzzer so they can see who they are letting in.

[RachD]

We have a key fobb to enter.
I think its right that parents shouldn't let other parents in.
I know that I should not let others in.
Yet, as I go in and out in the mornings, I do let others in - parents I regularly see.

Yet, really I know that is wrong.
Yet it would be so inpolite to say no, or close the door.

I do think the nursery policy is correct.
I think I, and the other parents are too lapse.

We would all be up in arms if someone got in, who wasn't supposed to, wouldn't we...
God forbid, the mind boggles !!!!

[sallycinnamon]

No they shouldn't but they do! Entryphone would be better. Also at busy times senior management should be around and about (there's enough of them! God knows what they do)

[whimsywhoo]

No, not seesaws

[edam]

I'd rather the nursery assistants and room supervisers were with the children rather than being receptionists though - but if there are managers wandering around your nursery then fair enough, I'd expect them to open the door.

[sallycinnamon]

edam there is a whole stack of them!

[MassacreOHara]

Mines the same - I only let in parents I know though. If I don't recognise them I grab a member of staff and just say sorry I would've let them in but I don't know them

[Mum2girls]

We're asked not to let other parents in, but at our nursery there is always someone on designated 'door duty', which seems to work v.well.

[sallycinnamon]

What a very sensible idea mum2girls

[whimsywhoo]

That's what we did at our nursery Mum2girls.

[edam]

Wonder what these spare people are doing all day - and what proportion of your fees are spent on them?

[bubble99]

We deliberately avoided the buzzer system at our nursery. We have a good old-fashioned doorbell. The front door is closest to the kitchen, where I work from 10 - 6pm and Mr Bubble's office, so it's quite often one of us who opens the door to parents. When parents drop off at 8am, one of the nursery nurses will open the door. We have allowed for enough staff cover during drop-off and pick-up times for a staff member to be free to hand-over children to parents and to escort them into and out of the nursery.

Prior to setting up our own nurseries we used a well-known chain nursery. I would regularly be buzzed in from the outside gate, only to be left ringing the front door-bell for what seemed like ages.

[ScarySkribble]

But what happens when parents are leaving and don't need to buzz out, it could be very akward if facing someone you don't know as you are leaving. If you are struggling out with child and buggy how do you physically stop someone?

This just a question.

[bubble99]

Hence, our staff members or me or Mr Bubble opening and closing the door for every parent and child. The extra person is only needed primarily at drop-off or pick up times, so it's easy to work into the staff rotas. A lot of nurseries have doors which automatically close behind them, ours doesn't and needs to be unlocked and opened/closed and locked by a human being. It ensures that the parent can get a good hand-over from a staff member as, after the hand-over, the same staff member sees them out of the building and helps with coats/pushchairs etc.

A lot of our parents are happy with this as it means that no-one can come into or out of the building without a staff member being present.The lock is also 'child-proof.' It took me a good week to master it.

[ScarySkribble]

I like the idea of a door duty person, I worked in a nursery where our room was next to main door and i was forever dashing out to let parents in and check door shut behind them, meant leaving room unattended when other carer on break.

[CountessDracula]

bubble how does that work - at dd's nursery the children seem to arrive/leave in a 2hr window!

I let them in if I know them tbh

[bubble99]

CD. We've always got enough staff to cover. From our own previous experience as nursery users, our major gripe was the having to wait until a staff member was free to open the door. By the time they did, there would be a group of p'd off parents waiting at the door, and needing to get to work. I would get particularly frustrated as quite often I could see a manager sitting in an office seemingly oblivious. There seemed to be an attitude that door-opening/greeting was not a manager's job.

We don't have any office bound managers. Office time is time-tabled and taken when the nursery is quiet, at sleep-time, for example. They will, of course, have to deal with telephone calls etc, but as Mr Bubble deals with all of the business admin and I handle the kitchen/catering they, need much less office time. Our managers wear uniform and are totally 'hands-on.'We also encourage our managers to meet and greet as much as possible, it makes sense for parents to be able to talk to the most senior/experienced person in the nursery on a daily basis.

We have a mobile door bell, but as our nursery is open-plan, the bell can be heard by everyone. Touch wood, we haven't had any complaints about access or door security thus far.

[bobbybob]

In NZ there is no security whatsoever. Unless I am missing something. You could walk in, nick the computer and walk out again. As for the children - well they are in 3 rooms off the corridor with the correct staff ratios.

When I had ds in hospital, again no security. You have never seen a recently pregnant person go to the toilet so quickly.

[ScarySkribble]

I complained to the Ikea creche about their security. The entry point seemed to be staffed most of the time and barrier about chest height, near the busy main door.
The collection point barrier was only at waist height and not manned, in a quite area out of site. When I went to collect my children I waited for ages to get the attention of the staff and could easily have lifted them or any other child out that was playing near here.

I worked in a creche before where we had a double barrier system in place, it was contsantly manned and absolutly no access to children at all, so I found this set up at Ikea very lax and worrying. I have never put my kids in again, even though they are probably old enough to tell anyone to bog off, they could still be caught off guard with right approach.

[ScarySkribble]

I meant "out of sight" not site.

[Judessis]

Hi there

We have a number code on the door - I let in parents that I know but no-one else, and haven't had any problems, but then I do go and get a member of staff for them and explain why I won;t let them in. Amazed at the manager comments - we have a manager and a deputy manager - the manager spends most of the day in the rooms with the kids when she's not doing the paperwork, and does the morning/evening shifts with the rest of the staff. The deputy manager is the pre-shchool room leader, so is permanently with the kids unless the manager is on leave! Wouldn't like to have to be buzzed in - my nursery prefer parents to be able to come and go as wel like - open door policy which reassures me that they've nothing to hide! And helpful if I'm picking up/dropping off/collecting things left behind at unusual hours!

[anchovies]

The nursery ds goes to has a reception area with a receptionist, a door with a key pad code thing that is changed monthly then you walk past the managers office and get into the main nursery area by having your fingerprint scanned! It's very secure!