‘Inadequate’ pre-school comes under fire for ‘putting children at risk’

A pre-school in Rochdale has been scorned by Ofsted in a recent inspection for putting ‘children at risk’ and having ‘failures in leadership and management’

Newbold Community Pre-School was previously rated as ‘Good’ by the watchdog before an inspection on June 20 found it ‘Inadequate’ in all areas.

The Milnrow Road venue has a new manager in place who the inspector stated 'has not been briefed properly' and is 'unaware of health and safety requirements', such as required training for those preparing food for children.

“Gaps in the leadership and management of this setting impact on children’s safety,” the report published on July 31 said. 

“Arrangements for the supervision of staff are not effective. The provider has not ensured that the manager is aware of her role in undertaking the supervision of staff.”

A key issue highlighted in the report was around safeguarding, which found that management were unable to ensure all staff are suitable and able to keep children safe. This is due to the lack of monitoring of the staff day to day, the report found.

Inspector Denise Farrington believes the provider, Diaconate Newbold Community Church Committee, is at fault for the issues at the pre-school due to a lack of induction for the new manager.

The report stated that the pre-school’s quality of education, promotion of child development, behaviour and attitude were all inadequate.  

“She (the manager) fails to identify where there are breaches of requirements due to her own limited knowledge and understanding in some areas,” the report continued. “This further impacts on children’s safety. 

“All staff can identify the signs and symptoms of potential abuse. They know how to refer any concerns they may have to the relevant authorities.”

Newbold does have children that enjoy attending the pre-school and bond well with the kind and caring staff, the inspector claimed. One example given mentioned how they ‘confidently climb on climbing frames and show an awareness of each other’s safety’. 

The pre-school was given four key issues to address by Ofsted:

• Put appropriate arrangements in place for the supervision of staff that includes discussions around sensitive issues that may impact on their suitability and promotes the interests of children
• Ensure that all staff involved in the preparation of food have received food hygiene training
• Ensure that the manager receives effective induction training to help them understand their roles and responsibilities
• Ensure that staff have a robust understanding of how children learn in order to plan a well-sequenced curriculum that meets all children’s individual needs.

Newbold Community Pre-School declined the opportunity to comment on the Ofsted report.

George Lythgoe, Local Democracy Reporting Service