leapfrog employees - 13-04-07 14:27
by: JoHill
PLEASE READ THIS!!! - Hello, I do not work at a nursery, but am writing as a very upset and concerned parent as my daughter, Bella, goes to Princess Christian Day Nursery in Rotherham and has done since she was 11 months old (now 4 years). I have come to work today so upset for my daughter and desperate to call the childminder that I have arranged to have Bella when she starts school in September to see if she can have her sooner (ASAP, tomorrow if she can) as that nursery is letting my daughter down so badly that she doesn’t want to go there anymore. I never used to have any problems until maybe a year or 18 months ago when everything has gone downhill. Here are just a few of the problems; 1) Understaffing - there is many occasions that 1 member of staff has been in charge of 15+ children ('the other carer's just in the toilet, they say). So I wait for up to 20 minutes and still ONLY ONE CARER! This is against the law. I don’t blame the girls; they are great and just doing their job. They have spoken to me and told me how bad it is and that they want to leave even though they love the children. I’ve been told that a girl in the 2-3's room was crying because she is so overworked. All the girls agree that management is absolute crap. 2) Secondly, last nov/dec (so 6 MONTHS AGO!!), Bella had an external door slam on her thumb and had her nail fall off and still has problems bending it. 6 MONTHS LATER, the doors are still unsafe. We've complained 25+ times, what if it happens again?, and we've been LIED to and FOBBED OFF that when refurbishment happens, its first on the list. Yet a month ago when the refurb should have taken place, the guy 'went on holiday' and so they have re-scheduled this for apparently next month. I would bet every penny ive got that in 3 months it’s still not safe. 3) Lastly and most importantly (there’s lots more than this wrong, but Im just covering the main stuff), for maybe a year now, one of the girls in Bella's room has turned nasty and bullies the other children, particularly Bella (even though they have been friends since babies). Bella has been SPAT at, bitten, pushed, Shoved and scratched VICIOUSLY. Twice this week she has come home with DEEP SCRATCHES (arm and chest). She cries when I take her to nursery and has just started having sleeping trouble. We complain and complain and nothing happens. We have been told that this girl’s parents have had a meeting and that this child is having behavioural therapy. But nothing changes!! My mother (who is very upset) and I have this morning had serious complaints with the nursery manager again, who informed us that they can’t keep the children apart, she won’t do anything and that unless this child constantly causes bodily damage or seriously hurts somebody, then she will not be considered for exclusion. So basically I need to wait until Bella is scratched or bitten to pieces or she gets her eye poked out or hair cut off (oh yes she’s tried to do those already too!) before anything gets done! She also told us that the doors will eventually be sorted. When I asked why they don’t invest in some temporary door stoppers that would cost around £10, she said that they couldn’t afford it!! I pay £130+ a week for Bella to go there! I am so cross and upset at this stupid way and absolute crap management. So tonight after work I am going to do my best to get my precious daughter out of that UNSAFE hellhole (such a shame I have to say this and let her leave on these terms after she’s been going there so long) and get her with a SAFE, CARING, WELL STAFFED AND LEGAL (!) childcare provider before any lasting damage is done. When she leaves, to make others including other parents who’s children are a risk of damage and abuse AWARE, I will be handing them this message, also to the carers (who are lovely and have done no wrong), to the USELESS management to let them know how bad they have failed my daughter, to Offsted, whoever else will hear my story (Im not sure about newspapers, etc.. yet Im still considering that). NOTHING IS CHANGING and it’s not GOOD ENOUGH
Jo Hill