sex offenders

sex offenders

by: Lilly Brown - 19-11-09 21:46

We are opening up a nursery in January and have just found out by a resident that a pedophile lives next door. (this could be a rumour) I have obviously spoken to the police who cannot confirm this.

As this is a brand new nursery we currently have no children yet, just enquirys. I am worried that this will now affect children coming to the nursery, or  on the other hand when we do start getting fall and parents then hear what we have heard,  they then all pull their children out of the nursery and we have a massive walk out. How could we recover??

Has anyone had any experience of this or anything similar. It would be lovely to hear others experiences.

Thanks x

by: Maestro

Well....

a) its a rumour

b) you're not letting the paedophile into nursery, if they are indeed a paedophile, and if they're not I doubt you're still letting random people in unsupervised

c) you have vetting procedures

d) its still a rumour

by: Lilly Brown

Maestro, Thank you for you reply..

We obviously have policies and procedures in place to ensure the safety of the chidren. But how would you feel if you were a parent and your child was at the nursery?

by: Lolo

Well, children are most at risk from people they already know and trust.

And families could live next door to convicted pedophiles and not know.

Just make sure all staff have CRBS, hey, even the cooks! 

by: Lilly Brown

Thanks, thats what I thought.

I just dont want parents having negativity about the nursery which then causes us not to have a good reputation. Its not fair on the staff as they have worked so hard for our opening in Jan and feel this has obviously put a massive downer on things.

Thanks, great to hear your opinions.

by: beckyl

Depends on a lot of other factors also, eg can this neighbour see/overlook your outdoor space from his position, is he out at work all day during your opening hours maybe? Also depends on where you live, I live in a town with a population of around 25000 and word of mouth is everything, so unfortunately rumours probably would have an impact. This may not be the case for you however. You should bear in mind rumours are just that though, unsubstantiated claims to things. If you are really worried i would contact your police force again they may be able to put you in touch with the MAPPA team for your county/district. Even if they cannot tell you want you want to know they will at least be informed and you would know you have done everything you can to ensure you and your business are protected.

by: Maestro

Personally I would not worry about it. Do you have concrete evidence that proves the neighbour is a paedophile? If parents mention it you just need to enforce the fact that its a rumour, the children are safe because of your policies and procedures and the staff are trained, CRB checked, reference checked etc... If you are seen to be worried by it, or your staff are it will rub off immediately to anyone else in the setting. At that point your parents will leave.

Rumours are vicious, it's not rising to them that buries them. 

by: mickey

buy a shot gun

by: funki

My view is that paedophiles could be anywhere they could live next door to you and your children but you would never know, alternatively they could live near your childs school, but you wil never know if they do and as long as all your safety and security policies are up to date and kept to i wouldnt see a problem.

by: stormgirl

Make your policies on child protection (and indeed staff protection from allegations) very clear and readily available. Ensure all your staff get child protection training as part of their induction and that all staff are CRB cleared. This includes any agency staff. Ensure that there are clear procedures for any visitors to the centre (How are workmen/strangers/visitors dealt with.) 

The sad & awful thing is that most of the time we are not going to know if there is a potential sex offender in our midst, all we can do to protect parents, children and staff is ensure that everyone is well informed, policies are known and kept to and child protection is our number 1 priority. If parents are assured of this, they won't worry about any rumours. 

by: mickey

LILLY BROWN

i'M SO gLAD YOU RAISED THIS ISSUE, tHE LAST TIME I RAISE SUCH A QUESTION , i WAS GIVEN ANSWER'S THAT REALLY DID NT HELP.

A friend of mine as been released to a bailhostel next door is a day Nursery, Now if i was the Manager of said Nursery, I would be like a cat on a hot tin roof. Would Parents think twice about sending children to this Nursery, May be / May be not

This Hostel Holds all kinds of mr meaners, but do the Hostel Link up with the Nursery, Doubt it very Much, I have heard that in this Hostel they Smoke Drugs on a Dailey Bases, But nothing is done about that by the police or Hostel staff. This is not hear say, i know the person that is currently in there , He as complained, They moved him to another room, WOW

Do i think Day Nurseries, Need to know if they live next door to a threat to children , Oh my god yes....

by: PJ

You can only do what you can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children, parents, staff.  As long as you have done everything you can reassure anyone who may ask the question. A rumour is a rumour and not fact. I wish we were born with psychic abilities so we could be absolutely sure about child safety. Imagine how bad the person feels about employing Venessa George!!