What does your nursery offer for outdoor play and do you feel it's safe enough? (UK based but happy to hear from everyone!)
My son (3) is starting nursery soon and we've had a tour and he's also had a few visiting session where we stayed and just hovered in the background.
The nursery is great, modern and it's attached to the primary school he will go to which is a bonus.
However it's very busy! There is 40+ kids in the nursery and it was very overwhelming. I wondered how the teachers could possibly keep eyes on everyone at once. They said each key worker has up to 8 kids. I met my sons key worker and she was a lovely older lady but I just wondered how on Earth is she (and the others!) keeping tabs on all these kids running riot?
The nursery is very outdoor play focused and the garden and playground are always open year-round, even in rain and snow, from open til close (unless the weather is dangerous of course)
Because of this there is a lot of variety in the outdoor spaces, there's a massive area for building and they have cut up bits of wood, tree logs etc and when we were visiting I was watching little boys HURL these logs around and nobody intervened. There's also a fire pit which is obviously only in use with a teacher present but it still worries me that the teacher has to keep eyes on 8 kids around this fire pit and what if she can't react quickly enough? I know I'm probably overthinking and being silly but it's worrying me.
They also have massive wooden play structures for climbing on and hiding in, it makes me worry that he would fall off because the drop is like 5ft and he's not very agile 🥲 idk, maybe this is all normal and I'm just worried because we've never experienced nursery before but please comment if you have advice or tell me about your nursery settings!
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Hello, nursery practitioner here đź‘‹
Preschool staff are hero’s and honestly I think have eyes in the back of their heads. I use to only work with preschool (now I’m with the babies!) and I could just sense what was going on and who it was. They will keep the best eye they can on them and if the nursery prides itself on outdoor provisions they will be hot on keeping them safe and teaching them the rules of the garden. Herd mentality helps, they get use to the expectations and all get on with it nicely.
Usually play equipment and structures have to be monitored. At my nursery (and every other I’ve worked at!) always had to have staff at certain points of the play equipment to make sure everyone’s safe.
You’ve also got to remember that bumps, bruises & scrapes are a natural and healthy part of childhood! Having scraped knees because they wanted to whoosh down the slide in a different way means they learnt something. They’ll be okay ❤️
This sounds like a fantastic nursery! All the outdoor play is fantastic for their development, second what Em said, nursery workers have eyes in the back of their heads and bumps, bruises and scrapes are what teach kids cause & effect, how to climb safely and how and when to know something is dangerous. They learn the hard way, a bloody knee or a bruised forehead, but the staff will always be on their best watch as it’s in their best interest to keep your kid safe!!! They never want an accident on their hands, because as much as they will care for your child, they don’t want accidents held against Them either! My mum ran a nursery for years and is now retired, she has my brothers 3 children and my boy, and im always in awe at how she manages to watch all 4 when I can just about manage 1 ahahah!!
I just viewed a school nursery like this. I thought the outdoor space and nature school was super, that was the only selling point for me. Personally I’d prefer my daughter in a setting where she’s free to explore and take risks and do cool stuff like that than be in some sanitise safe space with zero adventure potential. The 13:1 ratio with 90+ children completely put me off though, so it was a no.
My daughter would love that. Outdoor play is her favourite bit of preschool!
The only way to learn to do “dangerous” things is to learn to do them safely. Climbing, balancing, sliding, even falling is necessary learning.
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