Adventure playground '˜not meeting legal requirements'

Ofsted inspectors visited Grovehill and Woodhall Farm Adventure Playground and found it was ‘not meeting all of the requirements for registration on the Childcare Register’.

The adventure playground is one of four in Hemel Hempstead, all of which are run by Dacorum Borough Council.

Supervisors were given a week to make two important changes but a council spokesman said the ‘administrative’ issues have since been resolved.

They were instructed to keep a detailed record of any medicine administered to a child who is cared for on the premises, with a record of consent from a parent or guardian.

Staff were also instructed to ensure that a record is kept of all accidents which happen.

A spokesman for the authority said: “Dacorum Borough Council is on the voluntary Ofsted register.

“Our adventure playgrounds offer supervised adventure play but are open access like unsupervised parks.

“The two areas mentioned in the Ofsted report were administrative issues which have now been resolved.”

He added: “Dacorum Borough Council was compliant with all other requirements.

“And Chaulden (a different playground in Hemel Hempstead) was fully compliant with regulations when inspected in April 2016.

“Our adventure playgrounds continue to provide a secure and stimulating environment for all children.”

The supervised playground is an open-access facility run for children aged from six to 13.

It is open to the public in the afternoons during school term time and all day during the holidays.

A spokesman for Ofsted said the playground was inspected on May 17 to assess whether it met legal requirements. A full report was not carried out.