Choosing a nursery for your child is a really daunting experience, I felt so much better once I’d been to visit the ones in my local area, heard recommendations from other mums and been to visit some of them myself.
So, into the questions! Here are the things which I found really important to know when reaching out to, and then looking around potential nurseries for our son, if you have any others – please add to the comment section below!
The below questions don’t include things such as pricing, safe recruitment of staff, subsidised spaces etc – I’d expect these to be covered with you by the nursery and their welcome packs – but if they’re not – do ask everything you need to!
Do you have availability for X days a week from XYZ date?
Do you have availability for my 10 month old to join your nursery for 3 days a week, from September this year?
This is pretty much the first question I asked all the nurseries I reached out to – and for good reason! In some areas the waiting time for nurseries is really long (for some near me, it would have meant applying for the waiting list before getting pregnant… how does that work?!). So, if you’re just now thinking about nurseries near you – even if it feels like a ‘future’ thought, I’d recommend calling them as soon as you can to ensure availability for when you need it and join those waiting lists if needed!
It’s worth asking about mixing up the days if possible, if you’re a shift worker. Some nurseries only allow set days (E.g. mon-wed) whereas others can accommodate varied days to follow your shift pattern.
Planning your visit
Do you have visiting times I can come and see the nursery for myself?
This wasn’t as straight forward as I thought it would be, somehow! Whilst we were out of any national lockdowns by the time I started looking for nurseries for my son – a couple of the nurseries I was interested in didn’t allow in-person visits, instead they sent a video via whatsapp – whilst this was handy to see, it did put me off as it was after hours and hard to get a vibe of the nursery from this alone.
Next, there were nurseries which offered visits after hours (as in, once the nursery had closed for the evening) – whilst this gave me ample time with the staff to look around, and to look at the space in peace – this wasn’t my preference. I wanted to see the nursery how it would be in the daytime during operational hours.
Finally, my preference – and the nursery we ended up choosing for our son, allowed me to go and have a look during normal hours (when the nursery was full and the staff all working) on a day and time of my choice. I felt this gave me the most realistic visit and I really enjoyed seeing the nursery in operation – if it’s possible for you to go and see the nursery during open hours, I’d highly recommend you take this opportunity.
What type of food do you provide?
Is the food made fresh on site? And can you show me an example meal plan?
Most nurseries will provide food for your child… it’s worth checking out what this is like! I dismissed any nursery which didn’t make the food fresh on site (some bought in catered food and microwaved it) as fresh food at home is super important to us, and I want this to be upheld when he’s at nursery too. Work out what matters to you, food wise, whether that be allergy management, timings etc – and ask the questions you need to to be comfortable.
Is there much outdoor space?
Do the children use outdoor space much? What does this look like? (e.g. grassy garden vs concrete yard and local parks?)
This is another one which caught me off guard by the differences – some nurseries have TINY outdoor space which is fully concreted (which is great for bikes and chalk), and utilise local parks and walking into the local town for outdoor time for the kids.
Whereas others (which is what we were looking for) have an abundance of outdoor space, which is used everyday. The outdoor space and locality to a large local field was one of the core reasons I chose our nursery – it was also the only one whilst visiting where I saw kids outside, and tons of muddy wellies lined up!
The important stuff!
How many kids are in the classes? How are the age groups divided up?
Will my son be in the baby room? And when is he likely to move into the next age-bracket (and what is this?)
One of the reasons we chose a nursery over a babysitter was to give our son the opportunity to play and learn from children in his own age range, likely the same children he’ll move to primary school with – there was a slight variation between the age groups of classes in nurseries around us – it’s worth knowing ahead of time which class your child is likely to fit into.
On this, I actually loved being able to see the slightly older classes when I visited our nursery – seeing them all sat around a round table drinking from open cups and chatting made me feel excited for his future and learning new skills (funny the things which excite a parent, eh!)
What type of activities does the nursery offer?
What type of activities do you provide for the kids? Could you give an example week?
This one again had some varied answers! The more in-town nursery often took the kids to the supermarket to buy ingredients to cook with… and to the local library and in-town sights as activities and events. Whereas the more rural nurseries offered forestry classes and farm visits.
Which is most in line with your values and at home life? It’s also worth visiting the Facebook page of the nurseries you’re weighing up, as many will post highlights from the months events (E.g. easter bonnet making, fathers day card making).
How can I stay connected?
Do you have an app or way to keep up to date with what my child is doing/eating?
Most nurseries now use apps to show you what your kids have eaten that day, or any events and milestones. My understanding is that these are updated as/when there is a standout, notable or nice moment to share with you (rather than the staff using their time to document for no real reason). It’s worth knowing the nurseries policy on this and if they offer such updates.
Do you have any additional points which are important to you? Add them to the comments below!