Nursery World - Quality care goes down as well as up

I have just read your article 'Leaps and bounds' (15 August) concerning the development of nursery chains. All this money and development is not always a good thing. I have worked for several years as supply staff for an agency and have seen the conditions in some of these nursery chains in the area where I work. There is a clear indication that money is not filtered down to the care of the children. Indeed, in two nurseries the children of 18 months to two years not only played with the same equipment each day but also got only a half-hour slot once a day to go outside. The staff were uninterested, spending time talking to each other while the children tried to attack each other. I felt at one point like shouting 'Pay attention to the children!'.

There is a clear indication that money is not filtered down to the care of the children. Indeed, in two nurseries the children of 18 months to two years not only played with the same equipment each day but also got only a half-hour slot once a day to go outside. The staff were uninterested, spending time talking to each other while the children tried to attack each other. I felt at one point like shouting 'Pay attention to the children!'.

One nursery room used creative work as a one-off activity. When I set up an activity I was then inundated with a large number of bored children wanting to take part, and when I suggested the activity continue after lunch to accommodate all the children it was not taken up. What happens to the children who are there from 7.30am to 6.30pm and from baby to school age?

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