Nurseries in riot zones send children home

Bayonne Nursery in Fulham, south-west London, which has recently been refurbished, had its windows smashed.

A staff member said it was 'very upsetting' and condemned the 'mindless violence'.

Other nurseries contacted parents and asked them to collect their children early amid fears over their safety.

Hassan Ali, nursery officer at Trinity Day Care Nursery in east London, said, 'When the riots started in East Ham, it immediately hit home that we could be attacked as our setting is very close to the high street and our nursery is part of a well-known community centre.

'The managers contacted parents and asked them to pick up their children early, as the nursery would close for the day.'

There was concern at Trinity Day Care Nursery that parents and carers would not be able to get to the nurseries to pick up their children if they didn't act quickly.

'We were very concerned as many use public transport to get to the nursery and the riots were quickly spreading,' said Mr Ali.

But as the wave of violence and looting spread across England, many nurseries carried on as normal, only closing early when the rioting came too close for comfort.

Even in Ealing, London, which was hit badly by riots, nurseries tended to stay open.

A spokesperson for Ealing council said, 'Nurseries have been largely unaffected in Ealing. A few closed early on the Tuesday.'

In Croydon, Blue House Day Nursery also closed early on one day and the children were kept inside and not allowed to play in the outside area until their parents arrived to get them.

The Croydon nursery is now attempting to help people who lost their homes after they were torched by rioters.

Mandy Lupton, junior deputy manager, said, 'We are asking staff and parents to donate essential items such as food, nappies and washing-up liquid and we are going to give it to the people who lived on London Road and are now homeless. They are living in temporary accommodation at the moment. We want to try to help them get back on their feet.'

In the wake of the riots, MP Graham Allen, who led a review on early intervention, has said the looting and violence reinforces the need for early intervention programmes.

He called for 'long-term solutions' and said, 'We have got to understand and tackle the longer-term problems, which involves a lot of things such as making sure children are effectively parented.'

PLAN AHEAD FOR CONTINUITY

By Gareth Knowles, deputy manager for kidsunlimited, who also consults on business continuity for early years settings (www.eybcm.co.uk)

My setting was very close to some of the looting in southwest London, and it is in times such as these we are reminded of the need to plan for these situations before they occur.

Business Continuity Management refers to the plans and tactics used by a business to resume its normal operations as soon as possible after an incident that affects them, because unless operations are resumed quickly, the business may be unable to recover.

If a nursery sustains flood damage, for example, but can open within 24 hours of the disruption occurring, we can assume that parents will be sympathetic, and business can resume as usual. But what if the nursery cannot open for a week? Will parents remain loyal, or will their need for childcare mean they go elsewhere? If the setting cannot open for a month, it is safe to say that many families will be forced to go elsewhere and the business will be damaged irreparably.

By planning in advance for extraordinary events, we know how we are going to handle things. It might be a good idea to discuss with your local authority and Ofsted whether you could set up in a church hall for a few weeks if your building is damaged, or look at how you store your children's data. Could you access it in another way if your office were destroyed by fire? If a serious situation were to affect your setting, have you considered how you would deal with press enquiries?

No plan can ever deal with all eventualities, but the sooner you start planning, the less likely you are to be caught out!