Bosses say steps taken to ensure incident will 'never happen again'

A Tuebrook nursery has been heavily criticised by Ofsted after a child was able to leave unsupervised.

The education and children's services inspectorate has deemed Lister Steps Childcare on Green Lane to be inadequate and in need of improvement following a visit in March. A damning report said children are “not always kept safe and secure in this nursery” because “visual checks that staff carry out of the nursery environment are not sufficient.”

The inspection report compiled following the Spring visit added: “children are not always effectively supervised by staff while playing in the outdoor area. This is due to the other responsibilities of staff at this time, such as carrying out personal care for some children inside.

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“This puts children at risk of significant harm.”

Lister Steps Childcare is operated by Lister Steps Limited and employs 17 members of childcare staff; 13 of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above.

The nursery opens from Monday to Friday, all year round. It has 123 children up to the age of 14 on it roll.

The report by inspector Suzanne Fenwick said that as a safety gate was left unlocked, a child was able to walk out of Lister Steps unsupervised on one occasion. Ms Fenwick’s assessment added: “Arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

“Risk assessments in this nursery are not effective. Staff are not clear on all areas of the environment that need to be checked on a regular basis, when and by whom these checks need to be carried out by.

“This continues to put children at risk of harm.” The report said staff “do not fully understand their role and responsibilities in keeping children safe from harm.”

Ms Fenwick’s report highlighted that children arrive at nursery “happy and are eager to enter. They enjoy seeing staff and their friends.”

The report said leaders had put measures in place to secure the external gate that was left unlocked.

Children are making some progress in their learning and development but can often become bored and disengaged. Parents comment on aspects of the nursery that they are happy with, staff support their children's individual needs well and their children are happy to come to nursery.

A spokesperson for Lister Steps Childcare said the recommendations for improvement made by Ofsted had been implemented, including increased security for children and improved staff training. The spokesperson said these measures were taken to ensure the incident involving a child being able to leave “would never happen again”, parents were kept informed throughout and the child in question has remained with the nursery.

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