Nursery

Definitely just get a feel for it. It’s not necessarily about what the manager or whoever is doing the show round says but what is going on in the rooms.

Definitely ask about their sickness policy. At my friend’s, if they have a temperature they give them Calpol and if it goes down they will keep them that day. At mine, any sign at all (like 37.1) you have to pick up within the hour. It’s actually terrible how much I’ve had to stop work and go get him for not even being sick! As Emma said get a feel. Ask about their daily routine, ‘curriculum’ for activities, meals, what’s required of you to bring vs what’s provided, do they have any parent nights where you meet with the key worker, how much outside time do they get

Take your little one with you and see how they seem there and how the staff interact with him. My boy literally walked off to play whilst I chatted to the staff member showing us around! Also check about the settling in sessions and if you have to pay extra for them x

Ask about the menu and if food is prepared on site or ordered in from an external caterer. How much time they spend outside?

I agree with @Charlotte - how often do the kids go out? Do they go on adventures outside the nursery? Do they provide food or do you need to provide food? How many kids are in a room together? I definitely also agree with taking your little one. In the prior nursery she’d be in a room with kids around the same age but it was quite a wait to move her up to the toddler room (waiting for space). Where the current one is a much smaller nursery and so she plays with kids of all ages which is great. It also means that the bonds she builds have the potential to last longer. Your Lo will also have the potential to learn how to behave around children much smaller than them (if you don’t already have smaller kids). One thing I do appreciate about the current nursery (and the prior one) is that they make the food onsite. This nursery specifically doesn’t have a 9am cut off for breakfast which helps (we have accidentally overslept once lol).

One thing to note is that even when they have an app to let you know how your LO has slept, ate or drank, they often aren’t consistent in logging this. They will prioritize the children’s experiences over logging the app, which is great for them but terrible if you’re still weaning your kid, needing to know their toilet behaviours (if you’re potty training atm) or if you’re still giving your LO milk. They can’t afford to be strict at logging these things.

I’d ask about changing of clothes and if they expect them to change themselves. My little boy is transitioning into pants and makes a few mistakes he was left soaking wet because they said they cannot change him, I’ve since been onto ofsted and emailed a complaint and this isn’t a procedure they followed so keep this in mind x