The 'Good Nursery' Checklist

Here at Shenfield Day Nursery, we want to give you as much information to help you in choosing the ‘right’ nursery for you and your family.

It is one of the biggest decisions you will make as a parent, and we want to help you to make the best choice for the start of your child’s learning journey.

There is no 'one thing' that sets a nursery out to be the right one but a mixture of information and feelings that help you to make the right decision for your family and work life balance.

As a parent, you will want to be sure that your child is given the best start and highest quality childcare. We often get asked, especially by new parents, for advice about questions to ask when visiting nurseries.

As a nursery which has been offering high quality care for over 20 years, we feel that in addition to all the below points, a nursery needs that special magic; a sprinkle of love; an extra touch of care and a feeling of being part of our nursery family.

Here are some ideas of things to consider when looking at nurseries.

• Initial information – location, cost, hours, reputation, Ofsted grading.

– Location of the nursery. Is it on your way to work, is it easier to get to by public transport, can any of your families support network get to it?

– Cost. Most expensive does not always been the best. Your nursery fees have to be affordable for your family’s situation. Are the costs all inclusive or are there hidden costs? Some nurseries charge extra for an extended day session, nappies, wipes, formula and extra curricular activities. It’s important to add all these up to gain a true comparison.

– Hours of opening. Does this fit with your work life balance and will it provide you with the childcare you need?

– Reputation. Everyone is going to tell you about the good and bad points of any nursery. Its important to be confident in the things you are looking for and visit as many nurseries as you can.

– Ofsted. This is how nurseries are inspected and graded. Look at the last inspection and how long ago it was. Ask questions about the inspection and how the nursery felt they could improve. Don’t forget the inspection is a one day snapshot of the nursery.

• Child safety and Security - Safety is our number 1 priority.

The safety and security of your child should be of paramount concern. Ask the nursery to explain what security measures they have in place to ensure the children’s safety at all times and what procedures they follow for: collection of children; visitors to the nursery.

As you walk around, ask yourself are all the toys in good working order? Is the garden safe and secure? Are the facilities clean? Ensuring the nursery is kept as clean as possible is really important for the health and safety of all little ones, their families and the staff, especially in light of the recent pandemic.

• Happy, Engaged Children Happy children is a good starting point! Children should be engaged in play and happy as you walk around the nursery. Mid-morning is often a good time to visit a nursery when the main activities of the day are introduced. Are they fun and stimulating (an active learning environment)? If you visit at the end of the day, perhaps ask what the pre-school children have been learning about.

• Staff The most important part of any nursery operation are your nursery team! Are the team happy and engaged with the children? Do they acknowledge you when you walk around the nursey? Do they have exciting and fun activities that the children are engrossed in? • Professionalism & experience are key! The staff team (in our opinion) should be a multi-skilled, multi talented, mixed age range bringing maturity and experience to the nursery environment. A Level 3 in Early Years and Childcare is considered a fully qualified practitioner. Nurseries are allowed to have a percentage of unqualified personnel (i.e. apprentices) work within the nursery but it is not considered good practice to have a large majority of unqualified staff. So, how many apprentices does the nursery have? How many staff are trained to Level 3? What percentage of staff hold a current First Aid certificate? What is the nursery policy on this?

• Friendly, caring staff team One of the great strengths of a smaller nursery is that staff members will often know all the children throughout the nursery and not just those who are in their own nursery room. When you visit a nursery, do the staff members all seem friendly and welcoming? Are they displaying a caring attitude towards all the children in their room? How well to do they know their children?

• Staff wellbeing, support and Training Looking after your staff and supporting them to continually develop is a really important part of a successful and happy nursery. Ask about how the nursery ensures the wellbeing of their staff team. What kind of support is there for continued career development? How many staff are currently undertaking any training? What staff benefits are there? Do any of the team have children of their own at the nursery? (If not, why not?)

• The Nursery Ethos Having a heart and an ethos is a very central and solid part of a nursery; all of the team should be aware of their own nursery ethos – what is it? What does it say about the nursery? Does what you see on your visit match up to their ethos? For example, if a nursery say they offer a ‘home from home’ ethos – what examples can they give of how they implement this?

• Nursery Nutrition Nutrition is something which is really important to us. Our Nursery cook prepares nutritionally balanced menus onsite in our nursery kitchen everyday. We also do not purchase all our food from a supermarket, for example we use our local butchers for our meat, this supports both a higher quality product and our local community businesses. Talk to the nursery manager about the menus the children are offered; Are the menus the same every week or how is it rotated? What kinds of food are served? Is it all made from scratch and what is the nursery’s nutrition policy? Is all the food from a supermarket? What kinds of desserts are the children given and do these have a high sugar content?

• The Outdoor Classroom Having a lovely outdoor space is a really big plus for children at a nursery setting. Things to look out for include whether the garden has good areas for exploration; if there are a variety of toys available for garden use; how many times a day the children get to enjoy garden or outdoor time, whether the children are taken out of the nursery for community visits or trips to the park or nearby woods, and if the nursery offers any forest school sessions.

• Social Responsibility and ethical working Ensuring we look after our local and global environments is at the forefront of many political discussions currently which is as it should be. We all have a responsibility, including businesses to think about reducing our carbon footprint to ensure we safeguard and protect the future for all our little ones. What initiatives or ways do the nursery try to be greener?

• Management Team To have a great team, you need great management! Who makes up the nursery management team? How do they connect with the rest of staff and what interaction is there?

• Achievements and Affiliations Is the nursery recognised for any special achievement or do they have any affiliations? What are their ambitions or plans for gaining any awards in the future?

We hope that the above gives you some guidance about the many different areas that make up a thriving and happy nursery. You will know when you’ve found the nursery for you and your little one – everything will just feel right!

click here for more details or to contact Shenfield Day Nursery, Breakfast & After School Club (St Mary's & Mountnessing C of E Primary Schools)