A SOLIHULL nursery has been served with a legal deadline by Ofsted over child welfare concerns – and its sister branch’s sudden closure.
Busy Little Bees Nursery in Newborough Road, Shirley, received the notice after an inspector’s report was published earlier this month.
In the report, the Busy Little Bees Nursery company was given a list of actions needed to maximise child safety by last Thursday (July 18), and was told its compliance with requirements was being closely monitored.
We asked Ofsted about the outcome of the monitoring period.
A spokesperson told us: “As things stand, Busy Little Bees in Shirley remains open, and we’re monitoring to check that it’s making the necessary improvements. That’s all I can tell you at the moment.”
After unannounced visits on July 2 and 3 at the Shirley nursery, Ofsted issued a Welfare Requirements Notice.
The legal notice required the provider to ensure certain requirements were met by July 18.
They include effective management of children’s behaviour, identifying poor practices and maintaining appropriate staff-child ratios.
Other requirements include ensuring appropriate recruiting and training of staff members.
The Busy Little Bees Nursery company owned two more nurseries near Solihull – in Sheldon and Hall Green.
But its Sheldon branch closed down this month after a visit from Ofsted responding to concerns about welfare and safety standards.
The Hall Green nursery has also been served a Welfare Requirements Notice.
The Ofsted report for the Shirley nursery states: “If we find that a provider is not meeting the requirements, we can take action to ensure they put matters right.
“On June 21 we received concerns that this provider was not meeting some of these requirements at their Busy Little Bees Sheldon nursery.
“We undertook an unannounced visit on June 28 and found that children were at risk of harm from poor practice and a disregard for their welfare from staff.
“This led to the provider immediately closing Busy Little Bees Sheldon.”
In listing the requirements at the Shirley branch, the report adds: “Actions needed: make sure all staff manage children’s behaviour in an appropriate way, particularly in relation to handling younger children to ensure children’s safety and emotional well-being by July 18.
“Ensure all managers and staff can identify poor practice and understand their responsibilities to safeguard children and implement the whistle blowing and child protection procedures to report any concerns by July 18.”
Shirley nursery manager Amanda White said: “All the welfare requirements have been met in both Hall Green and Shirley, with no recommendations.
“A report will be on the Ofsted website in around two weeks.”
