Nursery rated inadequate by inspectors
A Shrewsbury nursery school has been rated as inadequate by a Government watchdog.
Twyford Tots, which is based on Belle Vue Road, was visited by Ofsted inspectors in May.
They found that safeguarding practices at the nursery were not up to scratch and that the standard of teaching was variable.
They also found babies having their nappies changed in full view of visitors and other children.
Following their visit, Ofsted inspectors Scott Thomas White and Karen Laycock made a number of recommendations and imposed a deadline for these to be carried out.
They recommended that the nursery, which has 156 children on roll and employs 19 members of staff, address the safeguarding issues by ensuring that the lead practitioner has sufficient training and knowledge to implement the child protection policy effectively.
They found that the management of the nursery, which opened in 1993, failed to ensure staff understood the procedures in reporting allegations against anyone working on the premises. They also said the nappy changing provision had to be looked at in the toddler unit to protect the children's privacy.
Karen Edwards, owner manager of Twyford Tots said she was disappointed with the report and had appealed against it. She added: "This is not a fair representation of Twyford Tots. It is unjust. Our record has been exemplary since we opened almost 25 years go. It does not give a fair representation of how Twyford Tots is run. I won't stop until we get the name of the nursery cleared."
In their report the inspectors said: "The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective. The manager's knowledge of safeguarding is poor. For example, she does not know what to do in the event of a member of staff being disqualified from working with children.
"Managers monitor the progress of individual children. Their monitoring does not include the progress made by different groups of children.
"Therefore, managers do not yet know if there are any differences between the progress made by different groups of children.
"The quality of teaching is variable and not all children receive a high-quality learning experience. Not all children make good progress in their learning. That said, pre-school children do learn some of the skills they need to prepare them for future learning, including their move on to school."
The nursery now has until the end of next month to implement all the recommendations.
