Pre-school defiant after Ofsted finds staff '˜leave children unattended outside'

Ofsted visited Little Oaks Pre-School, based at Adeyfield Community Centre, where inspectors found a litany of failures.

The Queen’s Square pre-school is challenging the report findings because it says they are “completely untrue”.

But detailed in an official report, government inspectors said: “Children’s health and safety are compromised as a result of staff’s poor supervision.

“Children are left outside unattended at times and little attention is given to ensuring that they cannot access hazardous items, such as staff handbags and electrical equipment in the office.”

Ofsted also had concerns about leadership and a failure to identify ‘the basic needs or abilities of children when they first start’.

Inspectors found that staff are ‘not alert’ to some of the signs that give cause for concern regarding child protection.

“They do not act on children’s comments or actions during their play and occasionally are dismissive of children’s expressions of sadness,” the report added.

Statutory progress checks for certain children are ‘not completed’ or ‘shared with parents’.

Ofsted said ‘children enjoy physical games’ but gave the pre-school an extensive action plan to make urgent adjustments.

Tracy Ann Hart, who runs the pre-school which cares for 34 children aged up to four years old, said most of the concerns had been addressed before the report was published. But she is challenging the report by Ofsted after its inspection on October 10.

She said: “We don’t agree with it – it’s completely untrue. The children are never left unattended and it’s absolutely paramount for me that our children are safe. It’s the most important thing for anyone working in childcare.

“I’ve asked them (Ofsted) to remove things from the report because they are not factually correct.”

The pre-school was previously rated ‘Good’ in 2013.