Worried about nursery, please help!

[Scarlettsstars]

Hi all,

My dd, now 3.4, has been going to the same nursery since 8 months old. She has always been happy there and we've had confidence in the staff and the nursery set up. In fact until a couple of months ago we felt very blessed. However, there has been an awful lot of staff leaving in the last couple of months and morale at the nursery seems low. An added complication is that her key worker is somebody we find it hard to get on with. He slurs his words and is difficult to understand, often seeming quite manic. Dd, in the meantime, has also lost some distinctiveness in her speech, adopting some of his mannerisms. She has also become very materialistic. This is the following on from when the had a prince and Princess day that turned into a prince & princess month. We've never encouraged her to play with Barbie dolls or to play with princess toys, as we are quite anti-Disney, but we were repeatedly asked for dolls, comics, princess tat, and felt we were quite bullied into providing her with some to bring in. Altogether the standard of education of this nursery seems to have dropped for example DD used to come home with lots of thi gs she'd made, now she doesn't. Instead she comes home with a carrier bag -yes a carrier bag -full of pieces of paper on which shes drawn a squiggle. I feel like we're being used as a recycler! I have also repeatedly expressed reservations about giving a toddler carrier bags and asked for them not to but Nevertheless at home time there she is with a carrier bag and then we spend the evening arguing because I don't think it's safe for her to have it and its a precious object from her point of view. We are a lot less happy than we used to be- though we've no reason to be concerned about her welfare there iyswim. I don't want to complain about one member of staff, and I'm worried if I do that that will have implications for my daughter, but I am concerned that she is not getting the education that she needs, & this in the run-up to reception year at primary. I also dont want her to have to get used to a new nursery this close to starting school when shes experienced a lot of upheaval this summer (most especially the arrival of a mew brother). We've already decided that we won't send him to this nursery when I return from maternity leave, so we don't see these concerns as trivial.

What would you do?

[Misfitless]

Is the nursery under new management, OP?

If it isn't, you presumably already have a good working relationship with the management team?

Assuming this is the case, I'd ask for either an informal chat, or a more formal meeting (whichever you would feel more comfortable with) and discuss the things you've pointed out, making comparisons to illustrate how much your daughter's progress has declined since this new key worker came on the scene.

If it's under new management you still need to have a chat, perhaps a more formal meeting with DH, and set out what your areas of concern are. Don't forget to set an agenda for you to receive feedback; letting them know you expect them to report back about how things will improve, hopefully ensures it won't be one of those meetings where they smile and give you lip service, but don't actually do anything about it.

Good luck!

[Hermione123]

Yes agree to talk to nursery mgmt. I assume the school you want her to go to isn't operating a nursery so that's not an option? Ultimately, if your gut feel is wrong in another month or so after you've discussed your concerns you should move her. I moved dd, we agonised over it but it was a good decision.

[ReetPetit]

sounds a bit rubbish tbh - do they have many older children there? she's quite old to be a day nursery and has probably outgrown it - is there no nursery class attached to the school she will go to? or maybe as you are at home anyway with a baby you could consider a half day pre=school/playgroup as a temporary measure.