I worked undercover in private day nurseries as a volunteer nursery nurse over a four-month period this year. I was thrown in at the deep end everywhere, despite informing managers of my lack of experience.
On my first day I went into a nursery in the Manchester area and was supervised by a student. Another time in a Teddington nursery, I took toddlers to the toilet and changed nappies. I had back-up from two qualified and experienced nursery nurses, but the nurseries didn't know that.
None of the nurseries ran background checks before I started and I was left alone with children at them all. The Teddington nursery, where I worked for two weeks, knew nothing about me except my mobile number.
I did, however, meet inspirational carers who made the experience fulfilling despite the downside. They showed me that children can have a great time in private nurseries and benefit from well trained staff who love their job.
But I saw carers break basic rules and shout or ignore children. The worst incidents involved children under two being dragged by one arm, picked up and sat roughly on the floor.
One nursery nurse called an 18-month-old names including 'minger', 'imbecile' and 'idiot'. This child did not understand the words but will have understood the tone. Another 18-month-old was teased with a biscuit by three carers for four minutes when all the other children had theirs because he wouldn't say 'ta'.
All the nurseries I filmed in were Ofsted-approved. But nurseries are warned of the month of inspection and so Ofsted may not see them as they really are. If any changes follow our investigation, top of the list might be unannounced checks by Ofsted. At least then some of the problems I saw might be addressed.
