A nursery has suddenly shut its doors after Ofsted said it believed children “may be at risk of harm”.
Abacus Nursery in Southfleet Avenue, New Barn, near Longfield, is subject to a complaint about its childcare provision amid ongoing concerns over staffing and child supervision.
The education watchdog re-inspected the day care centre in May where it identified “significant breaches” that led it to downgraded its overall rating from ‘Good’ to ‘Inadequate’.
In that report, Ofsted inspector Natalie Moir found evidence of children biting pieces of plastic off poorly maintained resources, failing to respond to staff commands, as well as animal faeces being found in areas children were playing.
It continued to monitor the site and paid another visit to the site two months late on July 23 after ongoing concerns were raised.
Ofsted identified nine areas in need of urgent improvement, including ensuring first aid trained staff have sufficient knowledge to respond to an emergency, and improving staff deployment so children are “adequately supervised at all times”.
The nursery was told to take action by July 28 to ensure there is always at least one member of staff who holds a current paediatric first aid certification who is available “at all times when children are present”.
The education watchdog has since taken the decision to suspend the childcare provider’s registration and published a summary of this action last Tuesday (July 29). It has been told it has the right to appeal against this.
A former nursery manager at the site, who did not wish to be named, told KentOnline the closure has left the parents of 47 children in “complete limbo”.
Since it shut on July 23 a notice at the front of the nursery says it is “closed for the foreseeable” and on behalf of team Abacus, it apologised for the inconvenience caused.
The nursery has said it is “working very hard” and has “important decisions to make”.
Meanwhile, its sister site in Kingfisher Drive in Walderslade has also been subject to a complaint about its childcare provision.
The latest notice from Ofsted, published on July 11, explained a regulatory visit was carried out in April which found the education provider was not meeting some of its requirements.
The nursery was instructed to develop appropriate sleeping arrangements for children, implement effective supervision arrangements for staff and ensure food hygiene standards are maintained by April 28.
By June, the education watchdog carried out an inspection and found the provider was not meeting some of the requirements and a welfare requirements notice was served setting out the steps the provider must take to improve.
The nursery was asked to take action, including ensuring children and staff are properly safeguarded and ensure that staff implement a consistent approach to managing and supporting children’s feelings and behaviour.
In a follow up visit on June 27, Ofsted found the provider had started to take appropriate action to meet the actions set but still decided to take steps to cancel the provider’s registration.
When approached for a response, nursery director for both sites, Audra Uikiene, told KentOnline she was deciding if the team will reopen the New Barn site.
She said: “We are working very hard to ensure continuity for our parents and the provision and we have important decisions to make.”
In addition, she said the Walderslade site is working with the relevant local authorities to “address the points raised”.
We are working very hard to ensure continuity for our parents and the provision and we have important decisions to make
The concerns come months after a third sister branch, Abacus Nursery in Smarden Road, Headcorn, was suspended by the education watchdog on April 2 after concerns were raised children may be exposed to a risk of harm.
The nursery remains closed.
At the time, Ms Uikiene, said in a statement that challenges recruiting “qualified and experienced” staff had contributed to the decision.
She added: “I am very sorry for the upheaval to children and parents having to find alternative childcare arrangements.
“Among the reasons which contributed to suspension of the nursery was a real challenge to recruit qualified and experienced nursery staff, including the management team.
“This led to an untenable situation where we struggled to provide high quality service deserved by children in our care.
“I would like to express my gratitude towards the parents for their support.”
According to government guidelines on the subject, a decision to suspend an early years provider’s registration does not necessarily mean it has done something wrong.
However, the action does allow the regulator time to look into concerns or give it or the provider time to take steps to reduce or remove any possible risk.
The provider is still registered with Ofsted in the meantime.
