Parents' fears over mystery sackings at Croydon nursery
By Anna Edwards
PARENTS are frantic with worry after their children's nursery dismissed three members of staff for gross misconduct – but refused to explain why.
Fennies Under-5s, in St Augustine Avenue, South Croydon, sent letters to parents explaining that the employees "did not follow procedure and faced disciplinary action", which resulted in their dismissal.
It goes on to say: "They will be greatly missed but the company has high standards which have to be followed by all members of staff."
The letter assures parents that "the children were not directly affected by the actions of the staff members" but has refused to tell parents what these actions were.
One worried mother, who asked not to be named, says the secrecy surrounding what happened has led to panic and rumours.
"It's creating more questions than answers," she said. "They are asking us to trust them with our children but they won't tell us what these people did that was so serious they had to leave. Your children are the most important thing in your life, so they must understand that we would want to know what's gone on."
Parents who approached staff for an explanation have been told that the nursery has to respect the employees' right to confidentiality for legal reasons.
The worried mum said: "It's not a witch-hunt but everyone's imaginations are going into overdrive, and it's not unreasonable to ask for details or seek some clarification about what happened.
"They are making a rod for their own backs, instead of giving some vague details to reassure the families, this is going to make people wary of the nursery and will lose them business."
Another mother who contacted the Advertiser believes the letter could have given a hint of what the employees had done.
She said: "The issues with the employees could have been couched in vague terms, like it had something to do with attendance or an attitude problem, something like that.
"Leaving it so open and saying it did not 'directly' affect the children is causing everyone to be frantic.
"They are asking us to just take their word for it, but it's not good enough."
The nursery declined to comment when approached by the Advertiser.
2 Comments
by Anon, S Croy
Friday, June 18 2010, 7:51PM
“The following is from the OFSTED website:
We received this information from a complaint. Ofsted does not investigate to prove or disprove a complaint, but we check the information to see if the childcare provider is meeting all legal requirements.
We carried out an unannounced visit to the setting and found that the provider had failed to advise Children's Services and the Independent Safeguarding Authority of allegations against members of staff.”
by Anon, S Croy
Friday, June 18 2010, 7:50PM
“The following is from the OFSTED website.
We received this information from a complaint. Ofsted does not investigate to prove or disprove a complaint, but we check the information to see if the childcare provider is meeting all legal requirements.
We carried out an unannounced visit to the setting and found that the provider had failed to advise Children's Services and the Independent Safeguarding Authority of allegations against members of staff.”