High Peak nursery given lowest rating by Ofsted

The education watchdog rated Little Jules Childcare on Cross Street inadequate, raising concerns over the standard of education and hygiene, saying babies were allowed to ‘crawl on the bathroom floor around the toilet cubicle area’.

Inspector Tracy Hopkins said: “Children make poor progress at this nursery because the quality of education is inconsistent and, at times, ineffective.

"Children aged between two and three years old do not engage in activities.

"Children's safety is compromised because leaders do not challenge the poor practice of staff members.”

It was noted in the report that children cannot independently choose what they want to do as the manager has reorganised the nursery's equipment in response to the pandemic which has reduced the learning opportunities for children.

Inspector Hopkins said: “The curriculum is poorly planned and implemented.

"The management team do not have a clear understanding about what they want children to learn.

“Staff do not understand how to plan for children's learning.”

She said staff do not follow the policies and procedures set out by the management team, and leaders do not challenge this to improve practice.

"For example, the manager does not challenge poor hygiene practice when staff allow babies to crawl on the bathroom floor around the toilet cubicle area.”

However, she noted despite these weaknesses, children arrive at the setting happy and leave their parents confidently with support from the friendly staff.

She said: “Babies snuggle into known adults when they are unsure of new visitors.

"Older children learn and practise skills, such as putting on their own coats and shoes before going outside.”

The nursery will now receive regular monitoring inspections to track its progress and see if it is meeting targets set by Ofsted.

Sophie Postill, manager of the nursery, told the Buxton Advertiser: “We had staff off isolating and staff in from another setting when we were inspected.

"It’s not an excuse for what happened on the day and we know we need to do more.

"We were going to contest the findings but we’ve decided we are going to plough all our energies into to improving and strengthing the nursery ready for our next Ofsted visit in February.”

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