my son escaped from OAK TREE nursery (Tell Grove, SE22) on wed 7th may

[sweetgirl]

my son is nearly 2 & escaped from this nursery yesterday afternoon. this is not the first time! ofstead & southwark council are involved in this too. the police were also informed. my son was found on tell grove, in the road & found by a member of the public.

it seems the nursery were unaware he was missing until he was returned back to the nursery & it was then they realised!!!!!

i did inform the nursery manager yesterday that i want all nursery parents to be made aware of what has happened.

[sweetgirl]

(THE ABOVE IS COPY N PASTED FROM THE OTHER THREAD AS I HAVE HAD MANY PM'S ASKING ME TO START A NEW THREAD)

[hellosailor]

that sounds awful, you must be very shaken up, do you mean it's not the first time your son has escaped from Oak Tree or not the first time they've had an escapee in general?

[sweetgirl]

I HAVE HAD QUITE A NUMBER OF PM'S ON THIS, PLSE BEAR WITH ME I WILL GET BACK TO YOU ALL!

[sweetgirl]

sorry about the caps......

[Louise61]

Hi I was the Lady that found your lovely son wondering around, The thing that worried me most was the lack of concern showed by the members of staff at oak tree nursery.

[bluesuperted]

Wow this is such a nightmare, poor you and your son. Thank goodness he was safely found and the nursery alerted to their negligence...

[srisky]

That is shocking & worse that it has happened more than once. The safety of the children should be paramount. I shudder to think of one of my kids walking alone outside. I'm so glad he is ok.

[Tmarr]

What a nightmare this all must have been for you! my 2 yr son is also a major escape artist. We are on the lookout for nurserys to start him in september and We're avoiding OAK TREE !!!

[sarahandol]

My son was at this nursery (as was my first son) and I was very happy with it until he went back in the New Year. The second Monday after New Year I dropped him off and found the door to be wide open and none of the staff near it. I went in and the nursery was very chaotic. When I picked him up after lunch the door was wide open again with no staff to be seen. I went to see Little Fingers (Dulwich Village) that afternoon and they had places so I moved him straight away. I spoke to the staff at Oak Tree the next day and told them I had found the door to be open in the morning and the afternoon with no staff members around. I can't believe they were warned so long ago and yet they are obviously still leaving the door open and unattended. Little Fingers are also very flexible (mornings or afternoons etc) although they are only open during term time. My son is very happy there and they are very security conscious. There is a very calm and loving atmosphere.

[Bonfire2010]

This is just awful - what a nightmare situation. Makes a mockery of the OFSTED report which states that 'the nursery Staff show high regard to promoting children's safety while at the setting and during outings.'...

[sarahandol]

When did the OFSTED report take place? I was very happy with the nursery until Christmas 2013.

[Belle]

I think things must have changed since the manager changeover - the former manager, Maria, was really good and always very strict on the doors, security etc. It really is horrifying - particularly as there are several roads (including one very busy one) very near to the nursery.

[MoysieC]

So shocking. This nursery has gone rapidly downhill since January this year when the new manager Sylvia took over. I removed my child before Easter as I wasn't happy about things - seemed too chaotic and badly run. Very sad how quickly a great nursery can go downhill following a change of manager. It was so different when Maria was in charge (to which period the OFSTED report relates). This is pure negligence and could have had such an awful ending. So pleased your son was ok. I hope OFSTED remove the manager.

[hellosailor]

sarahandol Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> My son was at this nursery (as was my first son)

> and I was very happy with it until he went back in

> the New Year. The second Monday after New Year I

> dropped him off and found the door to be wide open

> and none of the staff near it. I went in and the

> nursery was very chaotic. When I picked him up

> after lunch the door was wide open again with no

> staff to be seen.

> I can't believe they were warned so long ago and yet

> they are obviously still leaving the door open and

> unattended.

This is unbelievable, all the parents need to be aware of this.

[Pugwash]

Do Southwark Council have any say in these matters? They have to give planning consent etc, should this be reported to the health and safety people?

The nurseries my girls went to had double set of doors. Outer door was accessed via intercom and automatically closed, the inner door has pushed down handles which we placed out of a child' reach. If a child escaped via the inner door, they would be unable to get through outer doors unless the release button was pressed.

[GinaG3]

sweetgirl what an awful situation for you, so glad your son was found safe and well. I have no experience of the nursery so have nothing more to add other than I hope it get investigated fully, this should not happen in any circumstance.

Our preschool door was always guarded by staff in mornings and afternoons, always locked, and was very secure. I dread to think of staff not noticing a child exit the premises, I cant even understand how something like this could happen!

Hope you all recover from such shock soon and get the answers you deserve.

[sweetgirl]

@ hellosailor.... it is the second time my son walked out of the fire doors unnoticed, the first time i was there with him & a member of staff was outside, whom he walked past without them noticing him. it was a day he was off & i had gone to the nursery with him. i saw him nearly running out of the gate & caught him. the manager was present when the first incident occured! i have to say though, parents do not always close the gate properly, although it would've made no difference in my sons case as he can open the gate.

@louise61, I cannot thank you enough! if it wasn't for you who knows where my son could've been right now! thank you very very much!

@bonfire2010.... that ofstead report is based on the old staff... not the current new batch!

guys i have to say it has been a very traumatic time for myself & worse for my son now.... he is very outgoing & used to love the nursery! i believe he has been unsettled since the changes & that is the reason why this has happened. my older son was the one to drop him off every morning & he has said to me that over the last few months he was not happy to be left at nursery.

[OakTreeHonorOak]

Dear Parents,

My name is Fatma (Faye) Manager of Oak Tree Day Nursery in Honor Oak Park: 27 Boveney Road,SE23 3NP (not East Dulwich). As a mum of three young children, as well as a manager, it is of great concern and distress to read safe guarding concerns for any setting. However I wish to point out, we are not affiliated or associated with this Oak Tree Day Nursery in East Dulwich. The name "Oak Tree Day Nursery" is generic, and there are many nurseries that share this name. I would kindly ask you to be specific when naming the setting; this shocking incident has been brought to my attention by one of our own concerned parent, and although I am truly shocked at the obvious apparant breakdown of this setting, I am also keen not to needlessly distress our own parents. Thank you, Fatma

[23e Heure]

Our 3 yr old is at Oak Tree, and we have been planning to send our younger one there from July.

Firstly, I am relieved for the OP, that their child was returned, safe and sound. What a frightening turn of events.

The risk with forum threads is that they can lead to hearsay, and as a parent I need to hear the nursery's explanation direct.

Tomorrow I shall suggest to the manager that she organise a meeting with parents, to give them opportunity to reassure us about their policy on door control and general security, as well as to outline development plans for the nursery under the new management.

A meeting like this should also of course give parents opportunity for q&a.

Securing a place at a trustworthy, affordable nursery in this area is challenging enough. I hope Oak Tree can take steps to reassure us.

[HLW2009]

For those of us us with children at oak trees in ED I guess you have all received the letter from the manger via email this afternoon.

I feel the letter has been sent too late, we should have received it on Friday.

It will be good to see how the nursery learn from this awful incident but I am concerned that standards are slipping.

I am removing my daughter soon, not because of this but due to the fact I am returning to work.

But I have worked in the are of clinical governance within the NHS so I will be keen to see that changes are made for the future of the nursery.

[Fjgb]

Hi sweetgirl, would be good if you could clarify in the title that this is the Oak Tree Nursery in Tell Grove. As Fatma said, there are other nurseries of the same name and would be good to ensure people don't get confused.

[sweetgirl]

i have to say firstly i gave the nursery 24hrs before i posted about the incident on the forum. the parents had a right to know!

secondly, when i was originally looking for a nursery for my son it was the forumites who recommended oaktree on tell grove, which is why i sent my son there! in turn it would be right for me to post about my experiences on the forum.

it has come to my attention that an email was sent to parents about this incident on sunday.... the 11th which was my sons 2nd birthday!!

[Gardenfun]

Hello, first of all I want to tell that this is a really misfortunate and horrible incident. But my daughter is in Oak tree ED for almost two years and she is really happy there. She will start school in Sep, and she had a lovely relationship with the careers there. We love the staff members and they are loyal and lovely with the kids. I agree, the management change didn't went smooth and there were few hiccups, but I also don't want their hard work to go down the drain. It is a lovely lovely nursery, and they do lots of activities for the kiddies and they are affordable. They already installed new locks and staff member is always next to the door after the incident. We felt part of a community there and she met lovely friends. Her confidence grew and she was constantly learning new things. So, hopefully they will have proactive approach after this and they will continue their hard work.

[alimc]

I have to say that if that was my child's nursery, I would take her out the very next day and get straight on the phone for legal advice. An expectation that my two year old will not escape the premises unnoticed is a pretty basic and reasonable one. This is utterly negligent and horrifying. I have been thinking about this since I read the post yesterday and it just beggars belief that this nursery is not being shut down temporarily and investigated.