We took our girls to nursery for the first time this morning, the local school nursery. We did a visit in December, had the twins all prepped, had a list of what they needed and ensured they had it all (wellies, juice bottles, spare clothes and PE kit for goodness sake).
This morning we arrived at ten to nine and were turned away by some snippy nursery nurse who was clearly unprepared for our arrival, so they left us stood outside.
Then, when we were finally let in they had no idea who we were or the girls names and we were ushered in then ignored.
During our visit in December we'd been told we had to have certain drawstring bags as nothing else fits on the pegs :suspect: yet when we arrived there was no peg ready.
No one greeted us, no one seemed aware of us and no one had any idea of the girls names. The person we met in December was not there.
I mentioned to a woman by the door an issue about one twin having accidents regarding potty training, yet she had no idea who was which twin.

I stayed a while to keep an eye on them and see them settled, which they were but I feel very uneasy about the whole situation, like they have no idea who they have there or they were not expecting the girls.
They said they'll sort the pegs out but no other reassurance was made.

I'm feeling quite dubious anyway since the girls don't know the nursery nurses, nor anyone else in the whole building but I've had to leave them there but all in all I think this is pretty shoddy.

Is this normal or exceptionally lousy?

Oh dear, I'm afraid I would have walked out with the girls and not gone back

This is just plain rude. Even if there had been a mix up or whatever surely they should have dealt with it promptly and professionally! They are looking after your precious children for goodness sake.

The more I read, the more I am dreading years to come!

I would say this is exceptionally lousy. Even when we took our daughter 10 years ago, they were friendly and welcoming, had done a home visit so that she knew the staff before she started, and the nursery said we had to accept that it was our daughter's call whether or not she wanted us to leave, and that we should be prepared to stay as many sessions as she needed us to.

I would be quite worried about leaving my child/ren anywhere that showed such disregard for the very important settling in period.

thats shocking! having worked in nurseries i know how important it is to have things ready/ know details etc. were they then only newbies of the day?? if so there is no excuse for not knowing names!!

As for knowing which twin was which - sorry I would probably have struggled! had twins in one of my classes once and took me weeks to tell them apart.

Hope things get better, if not a word with the headteacher is in order i think!!

I'm glad it isn't just me.
I know that once the girls are inside the building they will be looked after but I'm guessing Twingle 1 will be wet and in her multiple changes of clothes since no one will have a clue who she is and I'll bet they don't remind her about the loo or even check most of the time. Why would they, they don't know her nor that she has accidents.
I think I'll have plenty to say when I go back in a little while, especially if she's wet.
Grrrr!

thats shocking! having worked in nurseries i know how important it is to have things ready/ know details etc. were they then only newbies of the day?? if so there is no excuse for not knowing names!!

As for knowing which twin was which - sorry I would probably have struggled! had twins in one of my classes once and took me weeks to tell them apart.

Hope things get better, if not a word with the headteacher is in order i think!!
There did seem to be one other child who was starting today.
They're not identical twins, nor could they be confused for them. Either way, at least making a note that one of them needs reminding and then doing both to be on the safe side would be fine. I don't think they even knew twins had arrived in the building.

There did seem to be one other child who was starting today.
They're not identical twins, nor could they be confused for them. Either way, at least making a note that one of them needs reminding and then doing both to be on the safe side would be fine. I don't think they even knew twins had arrived in the building.

you can see how observant I am :hihi: (sorry!!) - no no excuse if not easily confused.

Hopefully they will check, most nurseries have regular toilet trips anyway (from experience) as it is part of their Early Learning Goals they are 'assessed' on (can bring them tomorrow if you want to see).

I'm sure things will be fine once the nursery teacher/ nurses have got the day started. 1st thing in morning is chaotic and if the smallest thing (even loosing the days book) throws you off - i had soo many days when i woulda loved to have spent more time with the new child/ their parent but coudn't because of all the others in the class. (no excuse i know....but sometimes it takes being a parent to realise that the way you acted when 'x' started musta been horrible for his mum).

I didn't know about the goals - that's useful to know, thanks. I would be interested to see the learning goals anyway so if you can bring them I'd be grateful.

I had a chat with their key worker, now I finally know who that is and explained how I felt and she was very apologetic. She plans to speak to the rude worker and agreed she shouldn't have been like that. She was aware that we've gone away with negative views and she's done her best to set it all to rights and explain what would normally happen and when.
Based on her apology, we both feel better.
Twingle 1 wasn't wet, to her and their credit, which is great. But the keyworker didn't seem to know which was which still. I can live with that but it's strange getting feedback on their behaviour and activities when they name the wrong child.
I'd also mentioned the lack of clarity in Twingle 2's speech as being a concern which they seemed less than concerned about, which is good but she then seemed surprised when I asked how they'd got on with understanding her.
I guess we'll see how it goes.
The girls have enjoyed it and not worried about where we were, which is good and their enjoyment and stimulation is the important part.

good to know everything was well in the end. I'll dig out the goals.

It can take a while for children's speech/ language to come on, I have had anything from 6/7 year old elective mutes, children I really couldn't understand a word of and a 5 year old who wanted me to spell 'pneumonia' for her story!! (think i have a book on that too...will have a look.

That's awful, you poor thing! I would have been furious, too.
I'm glad you spoke to them afterwards and feel better, but still...I'm so glad I'll be handing Wolfcub to the safe and familiar arms of his older brother's nursery - and if possible, I'm even more icky about Cosycub starting school than I was.

As for recognizing the twins, it seems pretty darn obvious to those of us who know them, but I can confuse kids who aren't even related to each other, LOL. A lot of us suffer from problems telling people apart until you know them a bit better. I'm sure they'll learn quickly :)

I'm sure they'll learn quickly :)
I have no doubt they will ;)
The nursery manager rang me to take a full account of my concerns and has also apologised profusely, given me reasons for everything that happened and said normally someone would have been there to greet us and see the girls settled in. She said she'll also speak to the rude person too.
Someone arrived late it seems and the two rooms previously provided as one large room has no been divided which changed the usual arrival scenario, which I can understand, though it doesn't improve how things were.
So, given their great response to my complaint I think we'll be ok and I feel very sure that they'll make an effort to get it all right now given the bad start.
Either way, the girls had a riot and have vast quantities of paintings on paper and selves and a new song to share as a result of their day.

I know you'd sort them out sharpish if needed :P

Paintings, etc....say goodbye to your fridge, your walls, every available space, lmao.
If you like, I'll give you a couple of those binders I got from Woollies to keep the mountains of artwork in. Can't do anything about the masses of clay sculptures and pet rocks, tho, sorry... :P

mini started her new nursery today, hers shut down suddenly at start of dec! This is a governent run nursery which is 1 session a day. I arrived late (as usual) one of the teachers took mini to intorduce her to al the kids while i had an hour long chat and look around the premises! I then got taken to the sensory room to fill out the forms while mini had snack. They do not allow you just to leave them for the first few days.
They had everything prepared and tomorrow she is staying for 2 hours then she having her full 2.5 hour sessions 5 days a week:)

Thats ridiculous the way you have been treated!

Paintings, etc....say goodbye to your fridge, your walls, every available space, lmao.
If you like, I'll give you a couple of those binders I got from Woollies to keep the mountains of artwork in. Can't do anything about the masses of clay sculptures and pet rocks, tho, sorry... :P
Oh yes please, the girls really enjoyed expressing themselves on unlimited paper supplies and paints of a mostly brownish shade :hihi: I can see me having to do the photo trick to keep a record of all their art.
Though, I've started using one of those notebooks you gave me to keep a funny diary, literally, all the funny things they do so I could add photos of their 'art' as mementos too... hmmm.

mini started her new nursery today, hers shut down suddenly at start of dec! This is a governent run nursery which is 1 session a day. I arrived late (as usual) one of the teachers took mini to intorduce her to al the kids while i had an hour long chat and look around the premises! I then got taken to the sensory room to fill out the forms while mini had snack. They do not allow you just to leave them for the first few days.
They had everything prepared and tomorrow she is staying for 2 hours then she having her full 2.5 hour sessions 5 days a week:)

Thats ridiculous the way you have been treated!

That sounds perfect! We were given a '15 minutes is quite enough' hint. :gag:

I would have walked out and told them where to go. No experience of school nurseries but you use of the word nurse makes me feel these people are up their own bums.

When my daughter started private nursery we had various settling in sessions so she got used to it and I was happy (no way would I leave her with someone she didn't know - don't reception school children go a couple of afternoons to get used to it) initial sessions I stayed for and were free then I left her for a couple of hours but we had to pay for these.

I wouldn't be taking my child back and someone would be receiving a very stern letter of complaint.

I had said to a friend last night that we have never left the girls with anyone they don't know very very well and I didn't think I could happily leave (which in fairness I didn't) but we seem to have raised two very happy and confident little girls who were absolutely fine with us leaving and barely raised their heads when we returned, so engaged were they in play.
For that reason we'll go back and if anything else came up I'd be sure to tell them where to stick it but now the ball is in their court and I suspect they will do their utmost to ensure it all goes smoothly from now on.

The complaint is there, not via letter but in person and on the phone and to both the key worker and the nursery manager so I'm happy to leave it at that and see what happens now.