Education inspectors discovered a childcare that had put children “at risk” by putting them in dirty clothes has closed.
During an Oftsed probe, children under the age of four were found putting magnets in their mouths unsupervised and sleeping on unclean bedding at a small daycare near Leicester.
Inspectors also discovered that nursery children aged 0 to 4 were not provided with silverware for meal times, forcing them to eat with their hands, and were instead given milk that had been left to sit for a while.
They were also seen wondering around ‘silent and distressed’ and ‘fell and injured’ themselves without staff being aware.
Basic health and safety flaws were also found such as nails sticking out of broken radiator covers and loose electric plug sockets.
After these revelations, the ‘inadequate’ Explore and Learn Nursery which looked after 34 children in Glenfield was shut by Ofsted.
Parents said they felt ‘guilty’ at ever letting their children attend and complained to Leicestershire Live that they were left £1,000 out of pocket as they had already paid their childcare costs upfront.
In a report from Ofsted, published on May 9, the education inspector rated the Explore and Learn Nursery 2 in Main Street, Glenfield ‘inadequate’ on all measures.
After carrying out its inspection on March 31, it stated: ‘Children’s safety and welfare are significantly compromised.
‘The environment created by staff exposes children to serious hazards. This endangers children’s well-being.
‘Staff do not assess risks and do not appear to notice issues, such as nails sticking out of broken radiator covers and loose electric plug sockets.
‘Children are not supervised appropriately during the day. They fall and injury themselves without staff being aware.’
The reports adds that children ‘remain in wet clothing’ after soiling themselves for ‘long periods of time as staff do not notice’, and they ‘spend their time wandering around the room unoccupied, silent and distressed.’
And Oftsed went on to say: ‘Staff do not comfort children when they are unhappy, and they therefore seek comfort from visitors.
‘Children do not experience established daily routines. Staff do not promote hygiene and a healthy lifestyle. The sheets where children sleep are dirty and unhygienic.
‘Children do not have daily access to outside play to develop their physical skills. Children cry for long periods of time as they are overtired and staff have not allowed them to have a nap.
Ofsted also said staff do not react when children are ‘upset’ or behave badly such as when children shout ‘get off’ when they want a toy, draw on walls, and repeatedly throw things at a plastic window.
‘Children do not know what behaviour is acceptable as staff do not have any expectations or boundaries for them. They throw heavy wooden resources around the room and fight over toys.’
Ofsted then suspended Explore and Learn Nursery’s registration the same day of the inspection as it thought ‘children may be at risk of harm’.
This effectively closed the nursery and on April 26 another inspection found that the nursery was still not up to scratch.
Explore and Learn Nursery then ‘resigned their registration’ as Ofsted was about to take ‘action’ to address other requirements it did not meet.
After the closure, a parent told the local newspaper: ‘Reading the report made me and my husband feel very sad and guilty that we had kept our son there when we knew there were issues.
‘Obviously we didn’t know the full extent of the issues but it makes me wonder what could have happened.
‘I feel incredibly angry towards the management for letting the kids down. We trusted them to look after our son.’
A second parent alleged the nusery has not refunded £1,000 she paid after closing.
She added: ‘I’ve got two children and I’ve had to find alternative care for them in the hope they would return to Explore and Learn as promised, which has led to my job being put on the line.
‘My oldest goes to school in September, so I’ve had to find another nursery for the sake of 11 weeks, which has upset her and then it will upset her again going to school.’