By Gavin Mackintosh-
Parents of children attending a nursery exposed for inadequately looking after children under their care, are seriously considering moving their children elsewhere after Ofsted’s damning report about the school/
Little Explorers Nursery at St Sebastian and St Pancras Church in Kingsbury let down young children by failing to provide them with food and drink, exposing their negligence.
The day care for children up to the age of four, were rated inadequate by Ofsted over their woeful failings when they were first visited in January. A full time place at the nursery costs £949 per calendar month.
A number of parents whose children attend the nursery told the Eye Of Media.Com they want their children somewhere were they are well catered for and can develop properly.
One parent anonymously told The Eye Of Media.Com on the condition of anonymity:” it’s shocking to hear that our children were neglected this way. Nursery is meant to be a preliminary stage of education to build our children up. It’s horrifying to hear these things. I need to move my daughter out of there, but we she is already half way through the term. I won’t be recommending this nursery to anybody in the future”.
Another discontent parent said: ” it’s deeply shocking and disappointing to learn about these failings. Nursery schools are meant to be a place where you can keep your children safely and be rest assured they are safe, not have safety issue to worry about. I don’t feel safe keeping my children in this nursery
”The nursery located at the site of St Sebastian and St Pancras, they are separate organisations and the church has no role in running the nursery
The inspectors’ report criticised the quality of education, the leadership, and the safeguarding of the children, after they witnessed children still playing or walking around during mealtimes, which put them at risk of choking, while others were not even provided with enough food and drink.
The revelation, first revealed by Kilburn Times exposes a shocking level of poor management by the nursery
The report said: “Some children do not eat enough to provide them with the nutrients they need to sustain themselves throughout their time at nursery. Staff do not ensure that children always have access to fresh drinking water. This could put children at risk of becoming dehydrated.”
Children at the school did not feel safe or secure due to poor leadership strategies to manage their behaviour. Inspectors said there were many occasions where kids behaved badly, including hurting each other or snatching toys.
Ofsted described the quality of the curriculum as “not good enough”, with not enough staff with the necessary skills to provide good care. The nursery which is funded by Brent Council have not put their money to good use.
Inspectors said: “Staff do not plan activities for children with a clear purpose to meet the next steps of individual children. Quieter children sometimes receive little attention and are too often unnoticed by staff. Therefore, children are not well prepared for the next stage of their learning, such as starting school.”
The report highlighted strong partnerships between staff and parents, as well as the bonds between staff and children, it also concluded that kids’ safety and well-being on site is compromised.
The report following the first inspection said: “Children are not kept sufficiently safe in the nursery environment. They are at risk of infection as leaders have not yet implemented effective hygiene practices. [They] are at risk of harm due to unidentified risks in the setting. For example, wires hang down in reach, and radiator covers are broken.”
A follow-up visit was carried out on January 31 to check whether the nursery had addressed issues noted in the inspection in order to maintain its Ofsted registration. Inspectors were satisfied that the necessary safeguarding and welfare actions changes had been made and it could keep its registration.
Changing nurseries is not the easiest of tasks for parents. It mans starting again to .build familiar environments for children, which can be made easier by preparing handover notes, centred on the experiences of the previous nursery.
Staff at the new nursery will need to be familiar with health or dietary issues , and it is usually advisable to first take children to the new nursery facilities at least once or twice, and explain to the kids why they re changing nurseries.
They will need to form friendships afresh, and some children may miss their friends from their former nursery, especially as young children develop attachments very quickly
A Brent Council spokesperson said: “Ofsted is the arbiter of quality for early years settings. The council continues to work in a supportive way with individual childcare providers and the sector as a whole to improve outcomes including when areas of need are identified.”