Safety of children at Chiswick nursery “put at potential risk” by staff

Image above: Fairyland Nursery in Barley Mow Passage; photo GoogleMaps

Barley Mow Passage nursery rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted

A Chiswick nursery has been found to be putting the safety and well-being of children at “potential risk” in their most recent Ofsted report.

In July, the Fairyland Nursery, 1 Barley Mow Passage, was visited by an Ofsted inspector, who found that the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes “Requires Improvement” whilst leadership and management was rated ‘Inadequate’.

Mealtimes and trips were highlighted as points where children were inadequately supervised. On one of the inspections, nursery leaders were not able to demonstrate that staff responsible for a group of children during outings held a first-aid certificate, as required.

Staff interactions with children were found to be “not fully consistent”, which at times means children receive variable support for their learning and development.

While staff say they felt adequately supported by the leadership team at The Fairyland Nursery, the report found that leaders do not consistently monitor the quality of staff practice to help identify and address weaknesses.

Image above: inside Fairyland Nursery 

Children “at risk of choking” during unsupervised meals

The inspector’s report stated:

“Although children feel safe in the care of staff, their safety and well-being are put at potential risk. Staff do not consistently and effectively supervise children while they are eating. This puts children at risk of possible accidents, such as choking. At times, the required staff-to-child ratio is not met, including the qualified staff ratio.”

The nursery receives funding to provide free early years education to children aged two, three and four. The report said parents praised the nursery’s communication about their child’s development.

The inspector made a series of recommendations for rating of the nursery to be improved. These would include ensuring that a qualified first aider always accompanies children on trips, more effective deployment of staff at mealtimes, and consistently meeting the required staff-to-child ratios, including ratios regarding qualified staff.

Read the full report here.

Read more stories on The Chiswick Calendar

See also: Richmond Park issues warning over deer mating season

See also: Man reported missing in west London

See all the latest stories: Chiswick Calendar News & Features

Support The Chiswick Calendar

The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.

We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.

To subscribe to the weekly newsletter, go here.