A mum has taken to an online parenting forum to ask whether she should be "concerned" about a potential nursery she found for her children.
The woman revealed that she and her husband are in the process of moving home, so have had to leave their "incredible, award-winning" nursery. While searching for a new facility, one in particular offered a lot of what she was looking for, but it also "rang a lot of alarm bells".
Unsure of whether her "standards were too high", or whether the nursery was unsuitable for her children, she took to Mumsnet to ask for advice.
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The mum wrote: "DH (dear husband) and I are unsure whether our standards are too high or not so would appreciate some perspective on our nursery visit today. DS (dear son) has been at an incredible, award-winning nursery that we absolutely adore.
"We’re moving two hours away to be closer to family/friends and leaving his nursery is the hardest part of the move. We visited a nursery near our new house today and it rang a lot of alarm bells for us (but, like I said, not sure if our standards are too high).
"The major benefits of this nursery is that they’re very flexible. They’re very close to our new house, they allow us to use the full 30 hours (all the other local ones appear to only allow 15 hours) and they allow us to do ad hoc days too which we need (because, although I’ll be on maternity leave with DD (dear daughter), my employer is funding me doing a full-time masters whilst I’m on mat leave so we need ad hoc days for both DS and DD when I have exams)."
They continued: "They’re one of very few nurseries who’ll take DD at all by November/December when my first exams are. However, there were some things that made us uncomfortable but not sure if they’re actually a big deal:
- The staff:child ratios weren’t met. In the room that should’ve been 1:3 was 1:4, the room that should’ve been 1:4 was 1:8.
- The room with the 3/4 year olds, the member of staff left them unattended in order to come and ask us a question.
- In the baby room, when we were in there, a pile of books/paperwork/files fell from a shelf of about 6ft high onto the floor - which could’ve caused real harm if it’d fallen onto a child.
- None of the staff were interacting with the children in any room. The children were all just playing on their own. None of the children were playing with each other either. The nursery was pretty much completely silent.
- We asked about maths/reading/writing and they said they don’t do any writing or formal work or worksheets etc. They said they monitor their progress by just getting to know the children.
- In the baby garden, there were loose strands of wire (like chicken wire) that had clearly been used to attach something to a playhouse but were now just left poking down from the doorway of the Wendy house.
- All the rooms were very messy and grubby.
- When the children were eating lunch, they were sat on the floor and all eating with their hands from the same plate. This was the same space that the children had just been napping it, they cleared away their sleeping bags and then sat on the floor.
"So, are these deal breakers or are these normal in nurseries? Would you send your child here or would you be concerned?"
It wasn't long before the post had received dozens of responses from fellow Mumsnet users. Parents were unanimous in their opinion of the nursery.
One wrote: "That would be a big no from me".
A second agreed: "None of the staff were interacting with the children in any room? This would be an absolute deal-breaker for me!"
"Your standards aren’t too high, it doesn’t sound like a nice nursery," echoed a third.
"Sounds horrendous," a fourth simply said.
"I wouldn't put my dog there," commented a fifth, while a sixth said: "No way would I send a child there. Not sure why you need to ask!"
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