Our nursery (seahorse) has increased 25% in their last increase which was only 9 months since their last increase. It's crazy money 

Thanks for all of the advice on this. We are now exploring other options for our children. After speaking to some of our childrens' friends' parents we realized that a lot of them are looking at moving their children in the New Year anyway.

£30k is mad and I'd move them for the underwear thing alone - that's horrific. If you're Clapham Junction side, take a look at Abacus Ark on St John's Hill - someone's already mentioned them on this thread and they're gorgeous. Our kids love every day there and the staff are fantastic.

Wonder where all the money is going?

Private equity acquires nurseries

PE are pulling their classic model of overpaying for assets by over leveraging, then pressuring the customer to generate additional cash via price increases alongside cost cutting to fund this excess borrowing. Lovely. And where is the competition commission when Bright Horizons acquires several of the big nursery chains in U.K.?

Add to this the fact that the government has removed access to most au pairs by preventing their entry via Brexit. I’m convinced that deliberately preventing so many women from working can’t just be a policy mistake. Of course MPs can claim all their nanny fees via expenses - as they do other “must have” services such as Netflix. What a horrible corrupt bunch of people running this country.

Hi I just saw this on Twitter from the leader of the Women's Equality Party about this



It really is dire out here in the UK for mums and childcare practioners when it really shouldn't be

   

@rumourmill. Hello there, you will still be shocked at how nursery staff get paid. I’m a practitioner and live my job and my key children but I’m considering changing to a different profession. Nursery owners are cashing in so much and the practitioner get no credit and it’s so hard compared to other jobs with the same pay. I work in a nursery in Balham and me and my colleagues always say how the pay is so minimum for what we’re expected to that that we always talk about quitting. I love the children and this is what keeps me going. Staff are still paid peanuts and that’s why there’s a shortage of staff and that’s not the reason why prices are going up. The owners are cashing in not the staff.

I agree I would definitely move your little one not for the fees but for the poorly run place. It’s not acceptable at all if you’re laying 30k a day to ask you to come back later with your kids as they don’t have enough staff in, that is very poor management and not fair on you as parents or your little one. Ratios are managed by ofsted for a safety reason so I wouldn’t hesitate in flagging it to them. I did this for the first nursery my son went to and they had an unannounced visit. Children make friends again very quickly at that age, you might have a month-6weeks of tears when you move them but then they’ll settle and you’ll be so much happier. The soiled underwear is also another thing I would raise with the manager as very bad practise, this sounds like an inexperienced worker who doesn’t understand the implications. It sounds terrible so I would hand your notice in, get your deposit back and move them!

Hi,

I do think that is quite high compared to my recent nursery in Wandsworth (Abacus) that wasn't so costly and excellent care.  They helped to potty train my little one in about 2 weeks.  I would like to agree with a prior poster who talked about children's resilience to change (and also they are extremely unlikely to retain those friends longer term).  Before Abacus my daughter was at another nursery that I did not feel was helping my daughter to develop by having her in toddler room (she was 2.5 but has older brother so quite advanced but coming home with regressive behaviour).  I too struggled with the thought that maybe it was too much change for her to handle but it was the absolute best decision I have ever made.  

My father in law loves to use the phrase 'vote with your feet' and after trying to work with prior nursery to coordinate care I just felt that they were very authoritative and had a 'we do things this way' and 'we know best' which they were completely inflexible about.  I think you need to trust your instincts and I would be more than unhappy about their 'technique' of shaming children who are potty training - it is such a delicate thing and can create traumatic lifelong habits. Abacus was always proud of the efforts made by the kids and very discreet (just on the app) to share when clothes were soiled. 

Good luck!

How did you find out about throwing underwear?
My son does not tell much about what is going on in the nursery. He is 3 years 4 months old.
Moving at this age is not an issue.
Majority of children from my son's group moved to school nurseries in September.
Even those who stayed will go to different schools next year.

OP - How many hours a day do you use the nursery, what rate does it work out hourly/daily?

We pay £95 to a childminder for 10 hours per day, which works out at £9.50 an hour but includes meals and snacks which has worked out so much better than employing a home nanny which cost us food, heating, toys etc so has saved us considerably.  Also means we can work from home in peace without worrying or being distracted.

Perhaps you could look into a childminder?

 

@RumourMill I'm pretty sure the staff are still on minimum wage! They just can't attract staff with those wages in this part of London.
30K for nursery fees is shocking. Feminism for mothers is truly dead in the UK.

It's a huge amount but I feel we have underpaid workers for many many years.

One of the benefits/costs (depending on your outlook) of Brexit is that a lot of cheap labour went home and we're now having to pay "proper" rates for staff. However I would have thought that this should drive innovation in terms of how many children can be looked after by a carer etc.

However on an individual household basis - that is a LOT.

OMG that is a lottttt. our kid went there back in 2015/2016 and it was like 94 pounds per day and we were shocked, but it was easy location jump in the tube go to work, so they are taking advantage of it. after 1 year we decided to move her to a lit nursery in Clapham north so worked too and honestly the staff was so good and caring and my kid absolutely loved it. way cheaper and loving, of course not the massive facilities, or fashion building, you pay for that. but no rotation of staff, family run. but this was 6 years ago.