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Also good to check out if they have an outdoor area and if they don’t how do they teach outdoors? Do they do lots of trips out etc? I’m a nursery teacher and there is so much that children NEED outdoor space for.
We decided against nursery and agreed on a childminder instead but the type of questions I asked her was… Do we provide snacks and meals for food times or is this included in the price. What is the ratio of how many kids you look after at once. Where would my little girl sleep. What activities do you do to make sure the children are engaged. can you administer medication if I sign a permission form. I was then given a little leaflet explaining what she is able to do etc.. And we will be going in for a taster day to see how my little one responds to her potential new childminder. I hope this helps a little bit. 😊
Hey mama I recently replied to another post asking the same thing so I'll paste what I wrote
I used to work in a nursery in management and have years of experience as a family support worker...I'll list here what you need to ask or look out for when choosing a nursery. * ask if staff are level 3 qualified, this would be recommended * ratios of babies to staff is 2 to 1, ask how they ensure this is met at all times * ask if they follow the EYFS (Early years foundation stage) it's basically the curriculum for 0-5s * ask how they track the babies learning and development and how they record observations * ask if they use an app or website to keep you informed * ask about safeguarding- how do they keep strangers out, what doors and gates do they keep locked etc * menu - what do they feed your baby * do they nap them, if so where and how * how often is everything cleaned * outdoor space 1/2
2/2 *nappy changing policy * how do they record any accidents/incidents *are they linked with any local children's centres where they offer additional support or signpost to services *how do they support children with SEN (special educational needs) do they make referrals and do they have SEN/Inclusion qualified staff * how often do you receive reports, do they hold parents evenings * fees and deposits I hope that helps x
Ofsted reports are good to read however I base my choice on that as the nursery may not have been inspected recently and since then there could be a new manager and staff. It isn't always reflective of how they are right now. One other thing to ask about is staff turnover if it's high that's not a good sign. You want your baby to form a bond with a key worker who won't be leaving any time soon - although that's hard to predict. You need consistency and a happy environment with enthusiastic staff with energy and passion x
The nursery staff should cover most points, so don’t freak out and ask a million questions don’t worry. Just ask what they don’t cover regarding; nappies, ratios being met, developmental tracking, security etc but generally they should cover most as most nursery staff have a ‘tick list’ when doing an induction x
What they provide - look at the menus/snack (are you happy with what’s being served). For us it was we wanted our LO to be outdoors as much as possible we viewed theee, ones ethos was exactly that exploring/nature the other 2 barely went out. As to see their daily schedule (for me this was so I could start weaning/meal times to match nursery so it wasn’t such a big change). Sleep when we started they asked what our LO did and followed the same routine (either 2 or 1 nap and the times). Also just look at the cleanliness one we viewed everyone wore there outside shoes inside and it had been raining so it was all muddy where all the toys were. The one we’re at all take their shoes off and put them on again when going outside. It’s also about the feeling you get, so you feel comfortable leaving your LO with these people/in this environment.
Always worth asking about their policies on nappy changing, from the logistics such as whether or not they (or you) provide nappies and wipes and right down to the most important thing which is who changes your child? Where do they do it? Is it logged somewhere? Is it within the eye line of other staff members? Ideally it should be within eye sight of other staff and logged on paper. Also would be worth seeing the area that children sleep in and asking about whether you provide the bedding or they do and how often it gets washed/does it get shared between children?