Your Opinion: Letters

Unfortunately I was one of many parents affected by the closure of Happy Times in Battersea. My son attended the nursery and had just moved up into the one- to two-years-old group.

My son and I returned from vacation on 2 December to a message left on my mobile by a staff member informing me of the closure. I was utterly devastated, as my son had just settled into a new group and now I needed to settle him into a whole new nursery. It was chaos trying to find a new nursery, as every one I visited was bombarded with ex-Happy Times attendees who had found out about the closure earlier. I had to take emergency leave from work.

Trying to get in contact with Happy Times was a nightmare. No-one could give me information about how I would get my money back. To this day, I have not received my money back or any information about who to contact. To make things worse, an error was made by my bank where they paid the nursery for December 2008/January 2009 despite me cancelling the standing order. Happy Times accepted the funds.

Wandsworth Council were of no help, as they informed me that refund of fees and alternative nurseries was not their problem. The Citizen's Advice Bureau basically said there's not much I can do unless other parents join forces, but I have no details of other parents. It was disgusting that the nursery closed without notice and I feel sorry for the staff and parents that had to endure this.

I never had any doubts about the quality of care. However, I am outraged at how Happy Times has disregarded their staff and the parents, as everything is left up in the air and unresolved.

Senel Maragh, Battersea, London

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DROP THE POP

My wife and I were disappointed when, as prospective clients, we visited an otherwise impressive nursery that had pop music playing in the youngest children's room.

I personally enjoy some pop music, but don't want pop channels played to my baby. They are not designed for the very young to sing, clap along or otherwise react to. Much pop music is deliberately discordant and therefore disturbing to children. Although I like the Velvet Underground, I wouldn't want my baby listening to it.

If the nursery workers are bored of the same old nursery rhyme CDs, how about the many workers from other countries and cultures bringing in their own ones? You don't have to understand Japan's hauntingly beautiful Koi Nobori to appreciate it, whatever your age.

Name and address supplied

CULTURAL DIVERSITY

I am currently working on a book dealing with issues of cultural diversity on early years settings.

Books or articles on this topic talk most frequently about work in settings where a majority of staff and families are White British. This is understandable, as that is still the situation in the majority of cases. However, it fails to take into account the increasing number of settings where a substantial proportion or even a majority of the staff and families are not White British and the issue of how they deal with helping the children understand the majority White British culture in the wider society.

I would be interested in hearing from any settings dealing with this issue about how they have tackled it and any of the difficulties they may have faced doing so.

Peter Baldock, peter.baldock1@tesco.net

lEARNING TO SURVIVE

While preparing for the festive season my eye was caught by the front page of a newspaper. It was a picture of two boys helping each other to collect water. They were using plastic bottles and a cup in an area affected by cholera.

For them, what we call learning through play is learning to survive, and carried out with patience and focus - while our shelves are filled with toys that we buy because that is what we do, and there is often pester power and the fear of not wanting to fail our children, with money or not.

Where is the balance in the modern world? It seems so harsh and unfair that there are such opposites.

Alice Tims, Hove, East Sussex SEND YOUR LETTERS TO ...

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