Complained to nursery - worker sacked! (LONG!)

[caggimedicine]

Hi everyone

Harry's nursery has 3 rooms - the baby room, the toddler room and the pre-school room (upstairs).
When Harry went back to nursery after Christmas, he moved up to the pre-school room which we were pleased about because a lot of the babies had moved into the toddler room before Christmas and he'd out-grown it. We thought it would be good for his development to be around older children and leading up to Christmas he'd been having half-days up there and loved it.

So - New Year comes and he's up there for full days... and we noticed that the level of attention towards him really seemed to drop. There have been a number of times we've picked him up and he's wet himself and no one had noticed. So we had a few concerns, but nothing we felt so strongly as to complaining about... until Monday this week.

I turned up at nursery at 5.20 pm on Monday to pick him up. As soon as I walked in through the main entrance door I could hear him crying upstairs. I walked upstairs and must have been quiet because the nursery assistant obviously hadn't heard me walk into the room. I saw Harry stood next to the nursery assistant - he was sobbing his heart out - full on crying and was so worked up... and she was tidying up! I couldn't believe that she was ignoring him like that.

So I walked over and picked him up and she seemed shocked to see me there. I asked her what had happened and she couldn't explain. In fact, she said pretty much nothing. Harry was so worked up and upset that my main concern was just getting out of there, so we left and I got him home and finally managed to calm him down (he cried all the way home).

I emailed the nursery manager that evening to tell her what had happened. She replied straight away to say that she would investigate first thing in the morning and get back to me.

She called me on Tuesday morning. She said that the nursery assistant "Hannah" was relatively new and was on a trial period. The manager said that she'd viewed the CCTV footage for that room and had seen Harry get upset when the other nursery assistant left the room (he's really attached to her) and Harry had walked over to Hannah, obviously for comfort and had been ignored. The manager said that Harry had stood next to Hannah crying for 2 minutes, all the time she was tidying up.

The manager said that she had already had some concerns with Hannah prior to my complaint, and has now let her go. I'm sorry that someone has lost their job, but Hannah was quite clearly in the wrong job if she felt tidying up was more important than comforting a sobbing toddler.

My husband saw one of Harry's friend's (Jude) mum's on Tuesday. Jude has recently moved up to the pre-school room too (just before Christmas) and she said she has not been happy either. So we're collectively going to keep our eye on things... but i'm happy I complained.

 

[Eala]

I hope that's a wake-up call to this Hannah person that she is in the wrong profession.

Fingers crossed things get better for Harry at this nursery now

 

[hypnorm]

Glad it got sorted, I didn't think they started preschool until after 3. My daughter is 3 next month and not allowed in preschool group until after September.

 

[lisa9999]

Glad it sorted. God what a cow!
Hope he's ok again at nursery now xxx

 

[Nats21]

Having worked in a nursery for 10 years you did the right thing, she obviously wasn't in the right job if she was gonna ignore children, especially as he wanted comforting.

In the past if a child who i've been looking after is particularly attached to a certain member of staff and that staff member goes out the room then some children might just cry not want a cuddle, in which case you'd just try and tell them that the person was coming back and try and distract them but your son obviously just wanted a cuddle. You did the right thing xx

 

[chubbin]

Glad its sorted

 

[caggimedicine]

Having worked in a nursery for 10 years you did the right thing, she obviously wasn't in the right job if she was gonna ignore children, especially as he wanted comforting.

In the past if a child who i've been looking after is particularly attached to a certain member of staff and that staff member goes out the room then some children might just cry not want a cuddle, in which case you'd just try and tell them that the person was coming back and try and distract them but your son obviously just wanted a cuddle. You did the right thing xx

Thanks for your reply.
The manager said that Hannah didn't even talk to Harry - she completely ignored him. Even if he hadn't wanted a cuddle, she could have talked to him.

 

[Jchihuahua]

The poor little thing being ignored . That's awful.

 

[Nats21]

Having worked in a nursery for 10 years you did the right thing, she obviously wasn't in the right job if she was gonna ignore children, especially as he wanted comforting.

In the past if a child who i've been looking after is particularly attached to a certain member of staff and that staff member goes out the room then some children might just cry not want a cuddle, in which case you'd just try and tell them that the person was coming back and try and distract them but your son obviously just wanted a cuddle. You did the right thing xx

Thanks for your reply.
The manager said that Hannah didn't even talk to Harry - she completely ignored him. Even if he hadn't wanted a cuddle, she could have talked to him.

Definitely not in the right job then, like you said she could of talked to him, explained the carer was coming back, encouraged him to do some colouring, read a story etc but to ignore him and tidy up instead isn't right at all xx

 

[rwhite]

Wow! You did the right thing, your poor wee man just wanted some attention, I don't see what would have been so difficult about giving him some. The woman wasn't doing her job properly and I think she got what she deserved.

Glad it's all sorted now, hopefully things will work out better from now on x

 

[MNORBURY]

Oh poor Harry , you def did the right thing, luckily Harry hadn't seriously hurt himself but the next child she could've potentially ignored may have x

 

[xolily]

glad it was sorted. must be reassuring to know that the manager has got her head screwed on too! x

 

[~RedLily~]

Oh bless him
You did the right thing.

 

[Racheldigger]

Hypnorm, it depends on the nursery. Rowan attends two different nurseries, and at two and three-quarters she's in the toddler room at one (where, like your LO's, they don't go up till three) and the pre-school room at the other.

 

[teal]

You definitely done the right thing by complaining. I'm glad it's all sorted xx

 

[Natasha2605]

Your poor boy

 

[BabyGirl999]

You must have been so upset too! Poor mummy and poor Harry. Well done for dealing with it tho!

 

[Samemka]

Well done for complaining & it's the right decision for the worker to be sacked. If you're not happy though definitely look elsewhere - follow your instincts.

I took Emma out of pre-school & enrolled her in another when I picked her up one time to find her COVERED in poo - hands, doll & elsewhere. OHs cousins little boy goes there too & she's made comments that I over reacted etc - I don't think so, if they can't notice crap all over her what else don't they notice!? Still annoys me to this day!!!

 

[bunnyg82]

Oh this made me feel so sad reading this it is such a hard decision choosing the right nursery and I know that only too well. Our son was booked into a nursery, due to start in September when I went back to work. But I was so unhappy with things I had seen during the settling in sessions I didn't start him! We have now found an absolutely amazing nursery and have been using our holiday and family to look after our son until now.

Things like this just instantly make me think about how I would feel if my baby was in the same situation and it upsets me so much! I am so glad that you managed to catch her out and found the courage to complain. Also, really glad the manager addressed it. THe manager at the nursery we were originally going to made me feel like I was being an idiot when I raised my concerns!

Hope your son settles in better now that horrible lady has gone xx