Nursery children's safety compromised, says Ofsted
Children at a Black Country nursery are ‘not adequately supervised’, according to Ofsted.
Concerns have been raised about the safety of children at Happy Hours Day Nursery in Lower Gornal, Dudley.
The nursery, which is attended by 71 children aged up to eight, has been rated inadequate as inspectors were left alarmed by safeguarding practices.
During an inspection, one child was left with a student who had not undergone DBS checks, which ensure people are safe to work with children, while in the bathroom, the education watchdog said.
Children were also said to be going to the bathroom without supervision.
Ofsted said ‘children’s welfare is significantly compromised’ and managers have been told they must address issues around safeguarding.
Inspectors also said staff did not have good enough knowledge of signs of abuse.
Nursery bosses said they had followed Early Years guidance and that they had taken action to address Ofsted’s concerns.
Its report said: “Arrangements for safeguarding are not effective. On the day of the inspection, a student whose suitability had not been checked through a Disclosure and Barring Service check, was left unsupervised with children while they were in the bathroom.
“On occasions, children use the bathroom on their own and are not in sight or hearing of staff. This compromises their safety. Not all staff have an up-to-date understanding of the wider safeguarding issues including those that may occur outside of the setting.”
Nursery deputy manager Hayley Mason said: “We went on the guidance given by Early Years in terms of planning, room management and outside provision.
"They told us what to implement and we implemented it.
"They said they were happy with it so we were shocked when we were told it was wrong.
“Everything has been acted on since. All issues raised have been changed.”
