subject: Before Choosing A Creche, Ensure You Check These Points First [print this page] You certainly can't take the safety of your children for granted or, indeed, too seriously. When you hear all the bad news in the papers about children being abused, kidnapped, or worse by the people which are supposed to be looking after them. With more and more children being abducted from creches in certain parts of the world, several recent pieces in the news about children being sexually abused by the workers at the creche in the UK - it is something which is becoming a bigger concern every day.
Since this type of news coverage, many nurserys and creches have tightened security and ensured that all their staff have a full background check in order to try and combat these problems. Yet still, the question remains, are these places truly safe to leave my child at for the day?
Before you decide to leave your child with a creche, make sure you check these points. To begin with, does this creche have a sufficiently high number of staff to ensure that your child is always the object of prompt attention and care, should an injury occur? Not only do you need to check there are enough members of staff, but that the staff are correctly qualified. Have you seen any proof that the staff are qualified to the required standards?
Does the creche have any form of online presence for you to check? Do they list the qualifications on their website? Do they have reviews on their website or on third party websites that you can check? Remember to trust reviews from other sites more than reviews from their own site. If you can not find anything about the creche online, it does not mean that they are a bad company. They may be a new company or it could just be a coincidence.
There are plenty of other things that you should think about as well. What is the policy for collecting children from the creche and is it enforced? Ideally, you want them to have a policy which only allows the parent of the child, or a pre authorised person to collect the child. This, after all, is the most efficient manner in which to ensure that your child is not taken away by some unauthorized individual.
And, pursuant to this, are all of the creche's entrance and exit doors sufficiently, and routinely, monitored at all times? The creche should have a CCTV system in place which covers not only every room in the building, but also the outside of the building. Are all cameras monitored at all times by an appointed security specialist? This is something very important that you should take note of.
Obviously, there is one final thing, which is possible the most important to consider. Will your child be happy when they are left there? Will he be bullied, or picked upon, by other children, or even by the staff? Always check and double check to make absolutely sure that you are placing your child in a loving, caring, environment. Do the staff seem like they actually enjoy being around children, or do they seem like they are there just for the money? Never assume that because someone works in a creche that they like children.
