Nursery introduces parentcam so parents can keep eye on kids
Published on Wednesday, 1 September 2010, Stroud News and Journal                                                                                          

Levi Ogden, deputy manager at Tiggers Nursery at Westonbirt which now has Parent Cam Nursery Cam

A CCTV parentcam has been installed at a nursery to allow parents to keep an eye on their children while they are out of their care.

The new state of the art system will also be a way for parents who are away serving in the forces to keep track of their child's development.

Tiggers @ Westonbirt is believed to be the first nursery in Gloucestershire to install the fly-on-the-wall camera.

The private nursery, which caters for 52 under fives, has installed a new state-of-the-art system, which allows parents to watch their children on the internet.

Parents create a user account with the nursery and are then able to view live images of their child on the eight webcams installed by the nursery, including two in outside play areas.

Nursery staff have full control of all parent accounts and can control which areas of the nursery they view.

Owner Theresa Ogden, who also owns Tiggers @ Downfield in Stroud, told the SNJ the system was 'safer than online banking'.

"One of the most difficult tasks for nursery staff is reassuring parents that their child is really happy and well-looked after while in their care," she said.

"For parents and children who find dropping-off difficult, guilt and emotion can cause them to mistrust even the most well-run and friendly nurseries." Parental webcam is a highly secure webcam facility that enables parents to view live images of their child at play via the internet from wherever they are, seeing for themselves that their child is happy at play and that the nursery is doing a fantastic job.

"It is a 21st extension of the 'open door' policy providing an easy and effective way of offering assurance and building trust."

Theresa said the system has proved useful for dads who are in the army or those away on business.

"The cameras also act as a way for parents to get a rare insight of their child’s behaviour when they are away from them," she said.

"It shows parents that I have 100 per cent confidence in all of my staff, who are happy to be on camera as they feel proud of their work."

In 2008 Stroud-based Tiggers @ Downfield became the first in the Five Valleys to install fingerprint recognition technology in a bid to keep children, staff and visitors more secure.

Please click here to go to the website.