'Inadequate' Corby pre-school criticised by Ofsted inspectors in shocking report

A Corby pre-school has been rated ‘inadequate’ in all areas after being criticised for its quality of education and supervision of children by Ofsted.

Bright Beginnings Montessori Pre-School, next to the Stewarts and Lloyds Rugby Club, was visited by the education watchdog in March this year.

The preschool offers full-day care for one to five-year-olds and had 50 children registered on the school roll at the time of its inspection.

In its full last inspection in November 2018, the facility achieved a ‘good’ rating – its highest attainment since opening in 2015.

But its latest report found that staff do not supervise children well enough and overlook situations where children are at risk of being injured or distressed. Inspectors said that this lack of supervision also translated into children not being supported to be independent or learn self-care routines.

The report said staff didn’t notice when the youngsters had runny noses or a dirty face. It also documented “unwanted behaviours” observed in children, including pushing and hitting, and attributed them to staff not properly supporting them to communicate or share.

The report said: “Staff do not have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the signs and symptoms that indicate a child may be at risk of harm. When they become aware of unusual injuries to children, they do not follow the setting’s child protection policies and procedures.

“There is not an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children’s interests first.

“Children receive a poor quality of care and education, as staff lack the necessary knowledge and skills to help them progress in their learning. Therefore, although staff are caring and warm towards children, their interactions do not have an impact on children’s development and any learning becomes incidental.

“Although children want to engage, staff tell them to ‘go play’ elsewhere multiple times, which upsets the children. Consequently, they wander the environment unoccupied.”

Inspectors also said that the premises themselves were “not organised well enough to meet children’s needs”. It criticised the pre school’s choice to have all children, including those aged under two, in the same room.

It added that staff could not explain which children were chosen to be placed in the smaller room, and observed some babies spending long periods of time clinging to a plastic fence divider between the two rooms, “distressed and upset”.

However, the report did find that parents were happy with the communication they received from the school and were overall complimentary about the staff and leaders.

A ‘welfare requirements notice’ was issued to the school after the inspection to ensure that all major concerns were rectified within a month.

Ofsted found that the provider had taken the necessary steps to ensure all persons working directly with children were suitable to do so, staff’s knowledge and understanding of child protection procedures had improved and staff were being deployed to supervise children properly.

Bright Beginnings Montessori Pre School has been contacted for comment.