A Holme Valley nursery has dropped from an Ofsted rating of Outstanding to Inadequate within the space of just two and a half years.
Honley Day Care and Pre-Preparatory School, Queens Square, has fallen foul of the Government inspectorate.
The nursery was rated as Outstanding by Ofsted in 2011 which dropped to Good on re-inspection last year.
A statement from manager Samantha Daniels on this year's inspection and downgrading to Inadequate said that an isolated incident had resulted in the many good points of the nursery being overlooked in the resulting Ofsted report.
Although details have not been revealed, Inspector Nicola Dickinson’s report bears this out. She states: “A recent accident in the nursery demonstrated that safeguarding procedures are not, always, adhered to. It also highlighted weaknesses in how safeguarding policies are implemented.
“Not all staff are competent in assessing risks to children, and as a result, sufficient action is not taken to minimise hazards.”
Samantha Daniels said: “The judgement has been made with specific regard to an isolated incident within the setting which was immediately rectified. Unfortunately, this has overshadowed the many positive points within the report.”
The Ofsted report stated: “There are weaknesses in the key person system, and as a result, children do not receive good levels of support that promote their learning when their key person is not in the setting.
“Not all practitioners are skilled in conducting risk assessments or in identifying potential hazards. As a result, not all risks to children are considered so appropriate action is not taken to ensure their safety.
“Practitioners are not confident to share their concerns about colleagues or inappropriate practice, and as a result, children are not kept safe at all times. Monitoring of the provision is not robust enough.”
Samantha Daniels added: “The management and staff at Honley Day Care are very disappointed with the outcome. Our nursery is a popular choice for parents in the Holme Valley area, due to the high level of care and education that we provide.
“The recommendations given by Ofsted have been addressed, and the staff are working very hard to maintain our high standards.
“We would like to thank the parents for their overwhelming support, and assure them of our continued commitment and dedication. We are eagerly awaiting our re-inspection, whereby we fully intend to restore our previous judgement of Good.”
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