More nursery malarkey

In November, I was told by an “outstanding” nursery that May needed a statement, not only to be prioritised on their waiting list, but to establish whether they would deem it appropriate for May to attend the nursery at all. This was a ‘catch-22′ as my borough do not write statements for under-3s.

Months later, when I found this out, the nursery agreed that May could be prioritised if someone on her team wrote a report that included the same information that a statement would. May’s physio did this.

That was almost two months ago. No one had called us from the nursery so I phoned yesterday to see how May was progressing on the list. The manager informed me that we were not going to be priortised. The reason was that it was unfair on the other parents. She said it wasn’t developmentally important for my daughter to attend the nursery, and therefore, she was like any other child, only attending because I needed to work.

She said I would need a referral from a medical professional for them to consider prioritising her. I phoned back and asked to be sent the policy regarding prioritsing on waiting lists. My intention was to give it to the doctor who wrote the referral so they could word it as exactly as possible. The manage told me they didn’t have a written policy.

The manager didn’t act obtrusive or defensive when we spoke. But, I found it all very shocking.

My husband was livid. He said that their decision was sexist as they were basically saying: you want to go back to work and we refuse to provide you with the means to do it.

Today, May’s physio told me that the borough have a disability discrimination policy and that the nursery should be prioritising her. They are going to call and question the nursery on my behalf.

In the meantime, being British, I have drafted a letter to the nursery! Drafting letters is what British people do when they are angry. When in Rome…