going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

what do I look for and what questions should I ask ?

cheers...we have got it narrowed down to 3...

all help welcomed..

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

Apart from the obvious e.g cleanliness of premises and the attitude and friendliness of staff, I would ask to see a copy of their latest OFSTED report. All nurseries are required by law to have one and this will tell you whether the nursery was found to be outstanding, good or unsatisfactory when they had the inspection.

Actually, you can view these reports online if you wish, on the OFSTED website.:)

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

What age is your child? See what the staff ratio to each staff member is, and how flexible they are to your home routine. Also, if your chils is 2 or 3, it may be worth looking for nurseries that are attached to decent primary schools as they may get a priority when they are of school age?

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

turn up unannounced, dont wait for an appointment... they should still let you in if there is nothing to hide.... check security, safety gates, locking doors, to check the children cant get out... ask them how they conform to every child matters... which is the legislation they have to follow for children fro birth to 18.. that should give you a good idea of the safety and ask to see their policies, child protection, health and safety, first aid and managing behaviour.. watch the nursery nuses with the children and how the children seem to be.. if there are a lot that are crying its probably not very good.. also try to be aware of the smell of the children:D because some places are not very good at changing nappies regularly...

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

one of them has slightly young staff working for them and that kinda puts the other half off..

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

they must be over 18 to be qualified.. find out what level the staff are qualified to.. there must be 2 or 3 level 3 staff... the best qualification is a national diploma in early years and that means that they have 800 hours work experience as well as first aid and various other qualifications.

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

your right em, they must be over 18 to be qualified but that goes out the window when kids from schools go to do there work experience there, they have no police clearance or anything

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

yeah but they are not allowed to be alone with the children, feed them, change them, take them to the toilet.... basically they are there to play with them.. oh and clean the toilets.....

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

well when i did my work experience at victoria nursery i had to....feed them, change them AND take them to the toilet

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

How long is training these days?

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

2 years.... flashy, that nursery was breaching health and safety.....

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

we are talking 16 years ago em, but even back then i shouldnt of been doing it, thats why i walked out after 4 days

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

ahhhh, now there is every child matters that i mentioned before which makes it illegal.. you cant do those things unless you are fully qualified, even in the last week of your second year it is still illegal...even when you are qualified there mut be 2 members of staff present if a child is removing their clothes because of child protection...

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

blimey...my brains being rattled here lol...

can someone make up 12 questions I should ask...that way I will remember them ..ha ha ha..

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

1) what qualifications do you have?
2) how do you keep the children safe?
3)can i see copies of your policies?
4)when were you last visited by ofsted?what did they say?
5)how many children do you have here?
6)how many qualified staff do you have?
7) who will be my childs key worker? what qualifiactions do they have?
8) Do you take students? what jobs do they have?
9)When we you last inspected by the fire services?
10) who makes the snack? do they have a food hygiene certificate?
11) who is the first aider? who coers when they are not here? can i see their certificate? is it over 3 years old? (if so they are not qualified)
erm.........12) erm.......... how will you help me and my child settle into nursery?? it can be stress full for both parents and child...

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

13) do you have any jobs going?????

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

how old is you little one glasgow guy??

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

nearly 2.5 months..and belting 14lbs..these were taken last week !

http://i8.tinypic.com/6yev31v.jpg

http://i4.tinypic.com/85cwfi1.jpg

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

printed off for tomorrow...

many thanks..karma left :)

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

aaah, so you are looking for a baby room.... ask what they will do if your baby cries, some will leave them for a while... you really want someone 2 go straight away, where do they keeop bottles and how do they know which childs bottles are which? (doubt you want him drinking a strangers breast milk) how will they warm the milk (NOT in a microwave-hot water)will they follow your home routine or try to make him fit into theirs? ( he is too young yet, they should follow yours) how often will they feed him (on demand-NOT every 4 hours) what safety do they take when changing nappies? ( gloves, plastic aprons-seperate for each nappy change and child+disinfect the changing mat)... hope all this helps... will post more if my brain starts working! lol

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

will add those to your list...
obviously the microwaves a no no when heating breast milk as it would zap any goodness from it ??..I want to them to think that I know what I am on about..:rolleyes:

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

only just seen the links.... aaah, he is lovely, little cutie.. i love babies.. kind of a need for my job.. lol

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

I have only just seen this Thread, but i think the questions that have been posed just about cover it.

I know when we were choosing a place for Tiddler (who was 3 at the time)...we were give a copy of the latest Ofsted report, told who his keyworker would be, told about the policies of the nursery, told about snacks, and that the children were limited on the amount of sugar they were given Healthy Teeth being cited......all the questions that my daughter came up with were answered and we were told that we could visit at any time.

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

best way to heat breast milk is under your arm , so that it is body temerature.. thats what i do..

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

Telling us which 3 are you looking at might help us to help you. Some of us might have kids at them.

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

little tinkers
toppers
and the one down sparth house way..

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

the only one i know over here is oscar bears, i saw them in the park once, must have been holiday club, there were 2 very young nursery nurses and 15 kids, all running wild... not good

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

I was once told how good Oscar Bears was until the person moved their little one to Fairfield Children's Centre :rolleyes::D

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

We were happy with the baby room at Oscar Bears, it was only when Siobhan moved into the room downstairs at 2yrs that we became unhappy with the service.

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

have you got appointments to go see the nurseries? a good time is at 9 am when they are busy and you can see the reactions of the children as their parents leave them and you can see how the staff react to th children, how much patience they have with the crying children...

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

What a little beauty Glasgow Guy you must be so proud!!!

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

we are both very proud that we actually got something right for once :D:D

and we are just turning up tomorrow afternoon at some point...havent made any appointments...

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

When you look around, just look whether the nursery nurses are playing directly with the children or whether they're just supervising them.

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

but that they are not doing it for them... i have seen nursery nurses holding childrens hands while they are painting to get the results they want...... i let em do what ever they want ... more fun that way!! usually come home with paint all over me! children have to learn for themselves too.....

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

oh, if their are any students there it might be wirth chatting to them and asking their opinion.... they get to see things they shouldnt and they are not on the pay roll!!

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

thanks for all the info on this thread...its very much appreciated..really it is.

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

I can understand your concern. Your baby is very young and you just want to know that he is in good care, don't you?

I think that you will know when you walk into the nursery which one is for you. That's what happened to me.

Good luck with your search. Let us know how you get on. :)

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

have you thought about a childminder, they are also ofsted inspected and can be as good as nurseries....

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

the other half doesnt like the idea of someone else taking the role of mum...but is happy for them to go to daycare...

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

i can unserstand that... i worked as a childminder before qualifying and it depends what you want as a parent....

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

so what if they say they dont have a key worker for the little one ?
and they do feed every 4 hours..and they havent had a fire inspection for 3 years..and they dont follow home routine... and they do use a microwave to heat food..just for asking sakes...

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

Look elsewhere. :)

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

I gathered that but I was hoping someone would explain how long for the fire thing...not microwave cos..etc..:)

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

they have to have key workers... they will be responsible for a group of children, they are the ones that know everything about your child.. alergies, health problems etc so that only one person has to remember.. they will also assess your hild on a regular basis to check for any developmental problems... the nursery are employed by you to care for you child in the way thay you want.. if they dont do it how you want then they are not very good and i wouldnt recommend sending your child to them...... any thing that breaches health an safety, such as the fire inspection is illegal and they should be reported to the local education authority and ofsted...

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

also ask them what their fire procedure is........

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

A baby's bottle should not be warmed in a microwave because the bottle will not be heated through evenly if microwave warmed.

There will be 'hotspots' in the bottle which will scald your baby's mouth.

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

and stored in a designated fridge without food to stop cross contamination....

Re: going to visit a few nurseries this coming week
 

hiya, how did you get on?