The questions to ask on a nursery tour rarely surface while you are actually on one. Most tours last about twenty minutes, and most parents spend them being shown around politely, then think of everything they wanted to know later in the car. It is nobody’s fault — you are in someone else’s building and your toddler is pulling your arm.
So here is the list we would want a parent to bring. Not a list designed to flatter us — a list that would help you compare any nursery in Sharjah properly, including ours. Print it, screenshot it, or just remember the four headings.
Before you ask anything: two minutes of noticing
Walk in and say nothing for a moment.
Is the noise the right kind? A nursery of two-year-olds should not be silent. It should sound busy and roughly cheerful. Total quiet at 10am is worth asking about.
What are the adults doing? Sitting on the floor at child height, or standing at the edges talking to each other? Watch where their eyes are.
Do the children glance at you? In a settled room, a stranger walking in gets a look and then gets ignored, because whatever they were doing is more interesting. In an unsettled room, several children come to you.
Questions about the people
1. How long have the staff in this room been here?
This is the question we would ask first if we were choosing a nursery. Early years staff turnover is high across the sector, and a child who bonds with a teacher who leaves in March has to start again. Ask about this specific room, not the nursery overall.
Ours is one of the reasons we talk about having been in the same building since 2008 — several of our teachers have been with us for years, and continuity is most of what settling in depends on.
2. Will my child have one particular teacher who knows them?
In the EYFS framework this is called a key person. One adult who learns your child’s name, routines, and the exact way they like to be comforted, and who is the one telling you honestly how mornings are going. Ask who that would be and whether you will meet them before the first day.
3. What happens when a teacher is absent?
Everyone gets ill. The useful question is whether cover comes from staff the children already know, or from outside.
4. How many children to each adult in this room?
Ask for the number in the room you are standing in, at the busiest part of the day. A nursery-wide average can hide a lot.
Questions about the day
5. What does a full day actually look like, hour by hour?
A good answer is specific and slightly boring — arrival, free play, focused session, snack, outdoors, lunch, rest, afternoon activities, pickup. A vague answer about “a balance of learning and play” usually means nobody has thought about the shape of the day.
6. How much of the day is outdoors?
In Sharjah this varies enormously by season, so ask what happens in June as well as January. Physical confidence comes before the ability to sit still, and outdoor time is where most of it is built.
7. What happens at lunchtime — and who is with the children after it?
In many settings the morning teachers finish at lunch and a different team covers the afternoon. If your child is staying for full-day daycare, that changeover matters more than the closing time. Ours stay with the same teachers all day.
8. How do you settle a child who is finding it hard?
Listen for whether the answer describes the child or the calendar. “Two weeks of half days” is a policy. “We watch how they are at mid-morning and lengthen when they are ready” is a practice. The second is what you want.
Questions about safety
9. Who is allowed to collect my child, and how is that enforced?
Every nursery will say they have an authorised list. Ask what actually happens when someone not on it arrives at 4pm saying they have been sent. The answer tells you whether the list is a document or a routine.
10. What are the entry and monitoring arrangements?
Secure entry, and whether there is CCTV, and where. We have CCTV throughout the classrooms and common areas, secure entry, and an authorised collection list — but ask this everywhere, because the answers differ more than you would expect.
11. How will I hear about my child’s day, and how quickly would I hear about a problem?
Two different questions in one. Daily updates are one thing; how fast you get a call if something happens is another. We use a parent app for daily updates, alongside a written note at pickup, but the second half of the question is the one worth pressing on anywhere you visit.
Questions about fees
12. What is charged separately from the tuition fee?
Registration, uniform, transport, extended hours, activities. Two nurseries can quote very different headline figures and cost you the same once the extras land. Ask for the total for your child, for a full year, including everything — and ask whether the registration fee is refundable if you do not start.
There is more detail on what nursery fees in Sharjah cover, including the split between what is usually included and what is not.
Two questions most parents forget
What happens when my child moves on? If your child will leave for KG1, ask what the nursery does about it — transfer paperwork, school readiness, whether they have done it before for the school you have in mind.
Can I come back at a different time of day? Most tours happen mid-morning, which is a nursery at its best. Asking to visit at pickup, or at 3pm, is completely reasonable. A nursery that is happy to say yes is telling you something.
A short version to take with you
- How long have the staff in this room been here?
- Who would my child’s key person be?
- What happens when a teacher is absent?
- How many children per adult, in this room, at the busiest time?
- What does a full day look like, hour by hour?
- How much time outdoors, in summer as well as winter?
- Who is with the children after lunch?
- How do you settle a child who is struggling?
- How is the collection list actually enforced?
- What are the entry and monitoring arrangements?
- How will I hear about the day — and how fast about a problem?
- What is charged on top of tuition, for a full year?
Questions parents ask us
How long should a nursery tour take?
Twenty minutes to see the rooms, and as long as you need for questions. If you feel hurried, that is worth noticing in itself.
Should I bring my child to the tour?
Yes, if you can. Watching how staff respond to your child — not to you — is the most useful thing you will see. It also gives your child a first look at the place before the first day.
What is the best time of day to visit?
Mid-morning, when the rooms are busiest, or at pickup to see how the day ends. Both are more informative than a quiet afternoon.
Is it rude to ask about staff turnover?
Not at all, and a nursery that takes it badly has answered the question. It is one of the most reasonable things a parent can ask.
How many nurseries should I visit?
Two or three is usually enough. More than that and they blur together — which is exactly why writing the answers down while you are still in the car helps.
Come and use the list on us
Bring it. Ask all twelve. We would rather answer them properly than have you leave with the questions still in your head.
Bumble Bee Nursery, Villa 3 & 4, Burj Khuzam Street, Al Ramla, Sharjah — behind the Sharjah Red Crescent Society. British EYFS for ages 1.5 to 4, since 2008.
Call 06 522 8461, WhatsApp 050 929 0452, or see how admissions work.