Complaining to childcare about no air conditioning

[AliBaby]

Now I know not everyone has air con. We hve an old system in our rented house and at my work, not everyone has air con.

Today was over 40degrees. DD's newroomatchildcare (toddler room) has no air con!!! There are triple the amount of children in that room compared to the other rooms where there is air con (nursery and pre-school rooms).

Our fees are $85 a day!!! Not cheap and I expect my child to be kept in comfortable conditions whilst there.

Any mum knows that any child finds heat difficult to deal with but toddler especially get whingy, irritable, dont sleep, dont eat, dont drink much, etc. So I am really ****ed off that they are not providing a comfortable environment for them to be in.

I looked at the book this arvo to see what they had done. It said seiming it wasa hot day we spent the morning outside then the arvo inside. Why the bleepingwould they be outside at all today!! Take them on an adventure to another room with air con I say!

I spoke to the carers and they said for me to complain out the front so I spoke to the girl but I feel I need to write a letter, especially as when I got DD home i stripped hertshirt and shrts off and she was that hot that she had*****ly heat rash allover her chest and back and it wasnt from the car as I had cranked the air con to cool it down!!! I feel really strongly about this. Its not the carers fault. I feel sorry for them having to deal with all the whingy toddlers in this heat as well but I feel like an explanation should be given and an action plan should be in place.

Even at school today we had action plans to deal with the heat for classes that didnt have air con. We all buddied up with air con people so the kids could be accommodated.We even had a class in the staffroom after lunch!

I just dont know how to write my letter of complaint. Has anyone done something like this before? Or if you are a director have you had to dealwith something like this or do you think it is an unreasonable request?

I should add that when I enrolled DD a year ago I was ledto be under the impression ofhow comfortable it was because of the air con and heating in Winter. Never said anything about the toddler s not having any!!! gggrrrrrrr!

[Indadhanu]

The carers are probably just as cranky as you! If not moreso as they are working in 40 degree heat and trying to keep all those toddlers entertained in that heat UGH! Yuck! Not my idea of fun that's for sure, especially for less than $20/hr!

Write your complaint letter, say pretty much what you have said: I feel sorry for them having to deal with all the whingy toddlers in this heat as well but I feel like an explanation should be given and an action plan should be in place. Say that you don't think that toddlers should have to be in this heat ESPECIALLY if the other rooms have air con, and that the carers should have it too! Hopefully this is what they need to take to management to get aircon in the room

[Floweryfields]

Hmm, those fees are high, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect the rooms to be comfortable, do they even have fans or anything? I wonder why just one room doesn't have aircon? I think a well worded but not rude letter of complaint is in order - or at least a letter requesting an explanation as to why there isn't aircon in the tods room..

[boobaloo]

isn't it illegal to have children (schools etc) if it's over 40degrees and not air conditioned?
i would definately have a bit to say if it were my kids, so i think a letter to the director, and a copy to the education department.
having children in that sort of heat is just plain dangerous.

[Floweryfields]

The education dept has nothing to do with childcare centres - you would need to address it to the Office for Early Childhood in your state.

[*Belle*]

what state are you in? if in NSW can you call Workcover Authority to find out if they are breaching the laws?

[Ginger]

i would definitely expect a childcare centre in sydney to have air-con in all rooms. definitely write your letter.

[BabyWrangler]

Hiya AliBaby!
Aw your poor little one!

Firstly, is the centre a sun smart centre?
I'm not 100% famliar with the new regulations as they have changed in the past couple of years since I left work, however, my understanding is that children are not to play outside once the temperature hits 26 degreesC.
Now I'm not sure what state you're in but here in Melbourne, it was 26 degrees by about 8:30am yesterday so there is no way those children should have been outside.

Secondly, under the occupational health and safety act of 2004 (I believe thats the year), the centre is obligated to provide a safe and healthy environment for everyone who enters the establishment.
This means, staff, parents, children, workmen, anyone. If the room doesn't have aircon, on a 40 degree day, that is not exactly a safe and healthy envornment....IMO

Thirdly, did they do anything to combat the heat with the kids (strip them down, water play, quiet activities, extra fluids, icy poles to eat etc??)

Is it a privately owned centre, a council run centre, or owned by a company (feel free to pm me if you like), as that will determine the avenues you need to follow for complaint.

Hope this has been helpful!

[*Belle*]

Hiya AliBaby!
Aw your poor little one!

Firstly, is the centre a sun smart centre?
I'm not 100% famliar with the new regulations as they have changed in the past couple of years since I left work, however, my understanding is that children are not to play outside once the temperature hits 26 degreesC.
Now I'm not sure what state you're in but here in Melbourne, it was 26 degrees by about 8:30am yesterday so there is no way those children should have been outside.

Secondly, under the occupational health and safety act of 2004 (I believe thats the year), the centre is obligated to provide a safe and healthy environment for everyone who enters the establishment.
This means, staff, parents, children, workmen, anyone. If the room doesn't have aircon, on a 40 degree day, that is not exactly a safe and healthy envornment....IMO

Thirdly, did they do anything to combat the heat with the kids (strip them down, water play, quiet activities, extra fluids, icy poles to eat etc??)

Is it a privately owned centre, a council run centre, or owned by a company (feel free to pm me if you like), as that will determine the avenues you need to follow for complaint.

Hope this has been helpful!

Totally agree with everything said here, they are breaking a law if they dont find a safe work environment for the staff and kids. And there are laws when kids can play outside during certain temps, my childcare has them.

[kelebek]

I would definitely be writing a letter asking why it doesn't have air conditioning and when they expect to have air-conditioning. It really is unacceptable not to have air-conditioning in a new building built in sydney where it is common to have at least a week of 40+ days.

I would include something along the lines that it is unfair to expect the teachers and children to suffer in that kind of heat and that your DD had heat rash yesturday. I would take pictures in future just in case.

I would even be looking at other options of childcare centres if you have options.

your poor little DD

[AliBaby]

Thanks so much for your replies. I sent a letter in this morning (handwritten as my printer was broken) and I left work straight away today to pick her up from the heat. Well the 2IC person saw me as soon as I walked in and said I understand you complained yesterday afternoon about the heat and no air con and I have passed it as well as others onto the director and owner of the centre (privatley run). She let me know they have gotten some quotes and would let me know what progress is made on this, etc. She agreed that this was an issue not to be ignored and the more people who complain the better.
Baby wrangler- Yesterday i dont htink they did any of those things! The 2IC lady told me that they had some water play today and gave them ice coldwater from the fridge to make sure they werewell hydrated and put damp faxe washers around their necks where possible. Seems like today was a bigchange from yesterday and more precautions were taken (even though it was hotter yesterday being 42degrees and today being 40degrees). Maybe they were trying to cover bases today if lots of people complained.

It definitely is a sunsmart centre as it was in the newsletter last week and there was a big speal about children wearing sleeved shirts (no singlets, etc) and they wear hats and sunscrean them up regularly. Ihad no idea about the no play temperature though so i will definitely mention that.

Belle- I am in Sydney (north west) so its been hot. Last night it was still 33degrees at midnight! Dont think it got below 26degrees. Would all centres have to follow those guidelines?

Thanks again everyone for all you support and advice.

[*Belle*]

Have sent you a pm hon.

[mrsmac]

Hope they do something, the poor teachers and kids. honestly for those fees the owner is making a lot of money and needs to spend some of it on the centre.
We had wet weather type duties ta school today and yesterday where we buddied up at lunch and kept the kids inside with the aircon cause it was just too hot to let them outside. I would expect CC to be even more careful with younger kids.

BTW does your school's power blow all the time too? We had 3 "blackouts" in my building today cause of everyone having the aircon on!

[kelebek]

I am glad to hear that they are taking your complaints serious and the 2IC person is correct, the more people who complain the more they are likely to get it fixed quickly.

[AliBaby]

Belle- I didnt get your PM hun. Not sure if you can send it again or if it got lost in cyberspace but thank you

MrsMac- You would think they would be very vigilant with little children. Not very happy about it
We had a big action plan as well at school. All rooms with a/c had all their filters cleaned out on Monday and then we had buddy systems. Even the staffroom was used by a classroom with no air con. They also handed out fruit iceblock sticks to every class yesterday. Last year we had blackouts all the time but just received a power upgrade to the school (cost a packet!!!!!) But now we can install 8 more air conditioners that the p&c has raised money for!!! Oh and I meant to tell yo our 2 new classrooms that used to be our hall for the building program dont have air con either and they aare stinking hot!!! Crazy!

Kelebek- Thanks hun

[Floweryfields]

Just wanted to ask where the 26 degrees rule that is being spoken about comes from as I've never heard of it. It is 26 degrees pretty much all the time in Summer here and that's not that hot to be honest...we would never ever go outside if that were the case..