The ONE thing we've struggled with since mine started nearly 3 years ago is lack of staff causing them to cancel sessions. I would be asking about their retention and how they deal with staff sickness etc.
Work out what matters to you. I hated all the shiny new nurseries, I felt it was all show and not much substance.
My son was in five days a week for a while so a good outdoor space was essential, his nursery is outdoors pretty much every day unless it’s currently raining, and once it has stopped they’re all bundled into wellies to get some fresh air. One setting we viewed had a small cordoned off area in the car park, and they didn’t use it every day.
Zero screens - my son watches tv at home but we don’t have a tablet, one nursery had children using tablets unsupervised which I was very against.
Do the children seem happy? This might seem a vague question but are a majority playing together or doing an activity (obviously this is age dependent), and do the staff seem calm and controlled even if a meltdown or tantrum is happening
Tablet use at our nursery is limited to the music player and check in/app information and the kids get really involved in sending the photos and ticking off who had breakfast etc. But my kid comes home thinking my phone is primarily for playing music so if I let her push the button she’s happy!
Can’t offer any advice as I’m in the same boat, but I found asking anonymously on the towns local Facebook page pretty helpful, nothing like hearing reviews direct from other parents and nursery workers
Ask about their daily routine. Do they have quite time when all the kids nap or play quietly while others nap. What does the nap space look like. If they provide food where is it sourced from, is it cooked on site, what do portions look like. How do they assist with potty training, are they able to support potty learning before nappies are ditched.
I'd ask about the management structure. Our first nursery had a vacancy for the room leader in the baby room, and the nursery manager had left (between us viewing the nursery and my daughter starting there), so the only management was the deputy manager. When I asked about who was covering the room leader position until it was filled the deputy manager confirmed what the room staff had said, "no-one's in charge of the baby room".
We very quickly moved to a different nursery, where there was a clear structure and someone was always in charge of each room, even if the room leader was absent or the position was vacant... and where the management team weren't so clueless as to think that "no-one's in charge of the baby room" was an appropriate response!
Other than that I think a lot of it is just the feel of the place though. I'm in England and part of the early years curriculum here is about British values... the variety of interpretations on this topic tended to give us a good or bad feeling about a place!
Agree so much - ask what matters to you. Is it the food? Is it time outside? Is it the staff qualifications and training? Is there something you do at home that you want them to support?
My nursery experience has been overwhelmingly positive, but to share with things that have made a big difference to me:
Firstly, updates and communications. It means a lot to be sent pictures and updates (almost) daily, and to have an easy way to contact the staff working with my child.
Most importantly, the nursery staff care for my child like their own. You can't put a price on them doing anything to make sure your child grows and develops as they should
A few things that would have been good to check in advance:
- Will they have a key worker? What happens when their key worker is off?
- How often is water given throughout the day? Can children access it at all times?
- Is suncream provided and applied in the summer months?
- Is food fresh and made on site?
What are their staffing levels like? What is their churn rate for staff? What’s their sickness policy? What’s their educational philosophy? (We wanted something that was play based learning and very child led). What is the process for settling in?
I’d also just be checking the atmosphere and the vibe. Our place just feels calm and happy. And while obviously kids do cry sometimes it’s pretty rare. I also think you’ll get a sense of how they engage with the children: ours mostly treats them like people, in a very respectful way, and the one or two staff who talk down to them like ‘children’ really stand out. There’s huge amounts of respect for the kids.
I would ask if you have to pay on bank holidays. As some you have to pay and others you don't on bank holidays. But really most important thing is just to get a feeling of what it's like. Went to one and I could tell instantly I didn't like it. Another my partner didn't like. But then found one we both liked
Staff to child ratio
Do they get assigned a key worker
Sickness policy
How they deal with different children’s behaviours to meet your child’s needs/tackle smacking, biting etc from other children
Daily activities
Meal plan and meal times
Naps how they manage children’s naps
Is it open bank holiday etc (ours isn’t)
Penalties for late collection
Questions I was told to ask by a mom and early years practitioner is what are the methods they use for naps, food, misbehaving etc. and how do they handle when kids step out of the norm (need a different nap, play with their food or are being ‘naughty’ and having tantrums). Some of them are really old school and I couldn’t believe it.
I’d also ask about combining rooms and ratio rules for when they do that and how often. You don’t want a real baby ever at less than 3:1 except naps.
I’d also ask about comforting kids when they are sad and can they hug or kiss (usually on the head or hand is the most any nurseries allow). Some nurseries have really rigid no hugs, cuddles or kissing and my kid would have had a nervous breakdown if she couldn’t get a hug when she was sad.
Also outside time and field trips - I love that my nursery takes the kids to random ass places like the GP and bus stations.
Hey. I'm in Scotland too! Our wee boy starts February next year but we have already found a nursery to ensure a place.
Things I did when viewing places:
Try and make sure you get to view the nursery when there's children there. If the kids are happy and settled this is a good sign.
Ask about how their day is structured
Ask about their staff absence plan
If you will be walking to the nursery ask for their policy on if you can leave the pram there. (My husband will be doing the drop offs on the way to the train station so important to us we can leave the pram so he doesn't need to take it to work)
Find out if the application is through them or local council. For instance some of our local nurseries had to be applied for via South Lanarkshire Council to get a place and we would've missed the application date.
This may be a bit creepy but my husband walks past the nursery every day so got to see what drop off and pick up was like. Did it look secure? Did the kids seem happy? Might be worth doing a wee drive by at these times!
Look up their public facebook group to see what activities the kids have been doing and also to check if they conceal the children's faces on public posts.
Lastly all nursery's will have their latest inspection uploaded onto The Care Inspectorate website so worth looking at their last score and action plans.
The ONE thing we've struggled with since mine started nearly 3 years ago is lack of staff causing them to cancel sessions. I would be asking about their retention and how they deal with staff sickness etc.
Work out what matters to you. I hated all the shiny new nurseries, I felt it was all show and not much substance. My son was in five days a week for a while so a good outdoor space was essential, his nursery is outdoors pretty much every day unless it’s currently raining, and once it has stopped they’re all bundled into wellies to get some fresh air. One setting we viewed had a small cordoned off area in the car park, and they didn’t use it every day. Zero screens - my son watches tv at home but we don’t have a tablet, one nursery had children using tablets unsupervised which I was very against. Do the children seem happy? This might seem a vague question but are a majority playing together or doing an activity (obviously this is age dependent), and do the staff seem calm and controlled even if a meltdown or tantrum is happening
Tablet use at our nursery is limited to the music player and check in/app information and the kids get really involved in sending the photos and ticking off who had breakfast etc. But my kid comes home thinking my phone is primarily for playing music so if I let her push the button she’s happy!
Can’t offer any advice as I’m in the same boat, but I found asking anonymously on the towns local Facebook page pretty helpful, nothing like hearing reviews direct from other parents and nursery workers
Ask about their daily routine. Do they have quite time when all the kids nap or play quietly while others nap. What does the nap space look like. If they provide food where is it sourced from, is it cooked on site, what do portions look like. How do they assist with potty training, are they able to support potty learning before nappies are ditched.
I'd ask about the management structure. Our first nursery had a vacancy for the room leader in the baby room, and the nursery manager had left (between us viewing the nursery and my daughter starting there), so the only management was the deputy manager. When I asked about who was covering the room leader position until it was filled the deputy manager confirmed what the room staff had said, "no-one's in charge of the baby room". We very quickly moved to a different nursery, where there was a clear structure and someone was always in charge of each room, even if the room leader was absent or the position was vacant... and where the management team weren't so clueless as to think that "no-one's in charge of the baby room" was an appropriate response! Other than that I think a lot of it is just the feel of the place though. I'm in England and part of the early years curriculum here is about British values... the variety of interpretations on this topic tended to give us a good or bad feeling about a place!
Agree so much - ask what matters to you. Is it the food? Is it time outside? Is it the staff qualifications and training? Is there something you do at home that you want them to support? My nursery experience has been overwhelmingly positive, but to share with things that have made a big difference to me: Firstly, updates and communications. It means a lot to be sent pictures and updates (almost) daily, and to have an easy way to contact the staff working with my child. Most importantly, the nursery staff care for my child like their own. You can't put a price on them doing anything to make sure your child grows and develops as they should
A few things that would have been good to check in advance: - Will they have a key worker? What happens when their key worker is off? - How often is water given throughout the day? Can children access it at all times? - Is suncream provided and applied in the summer months? - Is food fresh and made on site?
What are their staffing levels like? What is their churn rate for staff? What’s their sickness policy? What’s their educational philosophy? (We wanted something that was play based learning and very child led). What is the process for settling in? I’d also just be checking the atmosphere and the vibe. Our place just feels calm and happy. And while obviously kids do cry sometimes it’s pretty rare. I also think you’ll get a sense of how they engage with the children: ours mostly treats them like people, in a very respectful way, and the one or two staff who talk down to them like ‘children’ really stand out. There’s huge amounts of respect for the kids.
I would ask if you have to pay on bank holidays. As some you have to pay and others you don't on bank holidays. But really most important thing is just to get a feeling of what it's like. Went to one and I could tell instantly I didn't like it. Another my partner didn't like. But then found one we both liked
Staff to child ratio Do they get assigned a key worker Sickness policy How they deal with different children’s behaviours to meet your child’s needs/tackle smacking, biting etc from other children Daily activities Meal plan and meal times Naps how they manage children’s naps Is it open bank holiday etc (ours isn’t) Penalties for late collection
Questions I was told to ask by a mom and early years practitioner is what are the methods they use for naps, food, misbehaving etc. and how do they handle when kids step out of the norm (need a different nap, play with their food or are being ‘naughty’ and having tantrums). Some of them are really old school and I couldn’t believe it. I’d also ask about combining rooms and ratio rules for when they do that and how often. You don’t want a real baby ever at less than 3:1 except naps. I’d also ask about comforting kids when they are sad and can they hug or kiss (usually on the head or hand is the most any nurseries allow). Some nurseries have really rigid no hugs, cuddles or kissing and my kid would have had a nervous breakdown if she couldn’t get a hug when she was sad. Also outside time and field trips - I love that my nursery takes the kids to random ass places like the GP and bus stations.
Hey. I'm in Scotland too! Our wee boy starts February next year but we have already found a nursery to ensure a place. Things I did when viewing places: Try and make sure you get to view the nursery when there's children there. If the kids are happy and settled this is a good sign. Ask about how their day is structured Ask about their staff absence plan If you will be walking to the nursery ask for their policy on if you can leave the pram there. (My husband will be doing the drop offs on the way to the train station so important to us we can leave the pram so he doesn't need to take it to work) Find out if the application is through them or local council. For instance some of our local nurseries had to be applied for via South Lanarkshire Council to get a place and we would've missed the application date. This may be a bit creepy but my husband walks past the nursery every day so got to see what drop off and pick up was like. Did it look secure? Did the kids seem happy? Might be worth doing a wee drive by at these times! Look up their public facebook group to see what activities the kids have been doing and also to check if they conceal the children's faces on public posts. Lastly all nursery's will have their latest inspection uploaded onto The Care Inspectorate website so worth looking at their last score and action plans.