Childcare and nurseries with no windows – WTF

Just toured the 1st two in a list of nurseries looking for childcare this week.

Both have huge windows but they cover them in some film so baddies can’t see in.

At the same time the kids end up in what seems like a prison cell with no natural light or view.

Who builds and designs this crap? It’s worse than a farm.

Overall I agree.

Most child abuse is from a family member or family friend.

The preschool child#1 goes to has windows (as its an old house), and they seem to spend at least half the time outside in the gardens.

We decided out nursery on which one had the best outdoor space and this doesn’t include any privacy.

Both have huge windows but they cover them in some film so baddies can’t see in.

They’re not worried about a paedo cracking one out through the window though. Sadly we’re in a place where there may be concerns around abusive relationships or threats meaning that children need to be protected.  Quite often from their own family members.

If it doesn’t work for you fine but flippant dismissal is not helpful.

Who builds and designs this crap? It’s worse than a farm.

Our eldest went to nursery somewhere converted from old farm buildings. It was brilliant, loads of light, space and outdoors to get into. Shame we moved away from it for the other two (though we’ve still prioritised getting somewhere with plenty of outdoor space for the kids).

So 9/10 kids have to spend their lives in an environment that is akin to a factory farm?

If a restaurant, gym or office had the same vibe quality as the average nursery they wouldn’t be very successful.

This world is depressing sometimes.

My search continues.

My Australian colleague refers to nursery as “baby prison”.

My Australian colleague refers to nursery as “baby prison”.

Go them!

When we were in your shoes we found a massive variation in quality of nurseries. These seemed to range from akin to a soviet era desolate orphanage to the one we found that has loads of outdoor space and toys to run around with.

Our laddie barely spends any time indoors now it’s summer. Looks great fun. When he’s a little older he’ll move into forrest pre school and spend the day building huts and eating mud in the woods behind the nursery

Go them!

Well, I thought it was funny *shrugs*

All of ours (5 different settings) have had the visibility from outside the premises removed.  There were plenty of windows looking out onto the outside area although 1 was on the 1st floor (baby room).  Current (and last) setting takes the kids out into the neighborhood and to the park in big yellow crocodile fashion.  Keep looking.

I’m leading a project to update the legal regulations around outdoor space in schools and early years across all four UK home nations.

Currently in England you can open childcare, nursery and schools with no outdoor space. Absolutely shocking.

Our regulations date back to 1967 or 1973 on this. And they are woeful.

Learning through Landscapes calls for updated school grounds regulations in Scotland

See more

I saw this one this afternoon, it was better than the first two, the sun coming through the window made a big difference.

I’d have thought kids would prefer looking at big colourful murals on the wall rather than looking out of the window staring whist fully over a car park!

If a restaurant, gym or office had the same vibe quality as the average nursery they wouldn’t be very successful.

Try working in any industrial unit built in the sixties or seventies. I can spend a full day at our sites and have no idea what is happening outside until I leave.

You’re assuming that the hipstersoviet era sweatshop nursery has murials on the wall.

If a restaurant, gym or office had the same vibe quality as the average nursery they wouldn’t be very successful.

Restaurants, gyms and offices don’t generally have 3-year old customers presenting potential safeguarding concerns.  My partner is a childminder, I had to have an Enhanced DBS (background) check by nature of being in the same house.  I doubt the same would be true if she was a waiter.

I reject the noncesense “zomg paedo” knee-jerk argument, if you want to perv at kiddies you only need to walk through pretty much any public space, my local swimming baths has a free-to-enter public viewing balcony off from the café.  But some kids might have good reason to be under the radar.  I have friends who adopted a kid who was being rehomed from an abusive family, there was a very real danger that the birth parents would come looking for him.

And just like on the police / cow thread earlier, the alternative is that something goes wrong and the gutter press are on them like a tramp on hot chips squealing about why more wasn’t done.

huge windows but they cover them in some film so baddies can’t see in.

Lots of Kindergarten/nursery type places have sprung up in Munich over the last few years making use of otherwise empty shops.

But I agree, seems incredibly sad that the kids can’t see out and in many of these places they won’t have any outdoor space to play unless they get taken to the local park.

Stranger danger can do one.

Also,

You might be appalled, but the kids won’t give a shit.  Ours are more interested in The Smeds And The Smoos than the baas and the moos.  They get plenty of natural light in here, but the traffic whizzing past is not exactly a costal view.

You might be appalled, but the kids won’t give a shit

This. When we were looking for a nursery for Miss J we didn’t have many options. The one we “chose” (not much actual choice, for various reasons) was in a grim area of Edinburgh in one of the ugliest buildings in Scotland (yes, that’s a pretty high bar). She loved it and had a great time, learned loads, loved the staff. We were sad to leave.

You might be appalled, but the kids won’t give a shit.

By that logic there’s a mega ton of other things we need not bother about!

I got chatting the owner of a new nursery who was telling me “yeah, it’s brilliant having a basement in the building, it means you can put a bunch more babies in there and increase capacity”.

:/

I find it sad anyone can condone mba douchebags sticking 8 kids to 1 adult in a grim basement or ground floor and block out the windows. It’s the lack of natural light that gets me more than the lack of view. These people that design these places news to be sent to a Gulag.

Anyhow the search continues, if I need a 30min detour every morning so be it.

You might be appalled, but the kids won’t give a shit.  Ours are more interested in The Smeds And The Smoos than the baas and the moos.

oof, I don’t often disagree with you cougar but I do disagree with that. My kids are also more interested in the Smeds and Smoos on tv if I let them, but I refuse to let it go too far and they benefit greatly from getting  outside. They don’t know what’s good for them, sat on their arses is not good for them.

got my youngest in her first year at school now and I’m pretty sure it’s the tiny 30 mins outside time a day (until she comes home) that’s stressing her out.

Anyhow the search continues, if I need a 30min detour every morning so be it.

That’ll get old real quick. Promise.

oof, I don’t often disagree with you cougar but I do disagree with that. My kids are also more interested in the Smeds and Smoos on tv if I let them, but I refuse to let it go too far and they benefit greatly from getting  outside. They don’t know what’s good for them, sat on their arses is not good for them.

Oh, sure, that wasn’t what I meant.  Sorry, I probably could have explained that better.  Rather, the OP is painting their options like it’s Belmarsh or Colditz and I don’t think that’s the case.

Of course there needs to be a degree of Adult In The Room rather than letting them do as they please.  The kids in her care spend more time outside than I do.  They go to playgroups, the library, we’re a brickbat away from “shared use” green infrastructure, it’s a rare day that they’re inside all day.  They’re not rattling tin mugs across the fire guard.  (Well, actually they are, but not due to Stir Fever.)

For a non-parent it’s been something of an eye-opener for me.  They usually get home-cooked meals despite me being the cook in the relationship from day one and her hating doing it.  There’s strict guidelines on interaction, enrichment activities, nap times, storytelling… yet if I closed the blinds I doubt any of them would even notice.  We’d have more of a rebellion if I turned off the twinkly lights.

the Smeds and Smoos on tv

Wait, what, there’s a TV show?  We have a book for storytime.

Wait, what, there’s a TV show?  We have a book for storytime.

haha, there really is. I may have slightly got the wrong end of the stick as a result!