Young children were seen eating and touching each other's poo at a nursery branded 'inadequate' across the board and slammed over the 'catastrophic failings' of its management.
The shocking Ofsted report arising from an inspection of now-closed Kidspiration nursery on Gorton Lane, Gorton, has been published - and reveals children were put 'in significant danger'.
It highlighted 'incredibly poor' care practices and said the Ofsted inspector who carried out the assessment had to intervene when he witnessed the youngsters 'to maintain children's health and safety'. "When some staff change children's nappies, they fail to notice that faeces have leaked onto surfaces that children have access to," said the report. "This results in younger children putting faeces into their mouths."
The inspector also had to physically alert staff at the nursery when he saw children putting pebbles and sharp, broken pieces of ice into their mouths and on another occasion, he was forced to stand at the top of a flight of stairs 'to stop children from falling over the banister'.
Babies, meanwhile, were 'left alone for prolonged periods with no interaction from staff'. "They sit quietly, look on into the distance and are not given the quality learning experiences that they should," said the report.
"Catastrophic failings from leaders mean that children are not provided with adequate care and learning. Staff do not supervise children well. Although children are content to leave their parents and happily greet staff, many of them wander around the rooms, bored and seeking stimulation.
"Risk assessments are poor. The inspector had to intervene to maintain children's safety on many occasions. This poor practice puts children at unnecessary risk."
The inspection was carried out on December 9. Children there at the time ranged in age up to three. There were a total number of places of 63 but 14 children on the roll. In all five categories assessed, the nursery was rated 'inadequate'.
Activities for children at the nursery, which employed six members of staff and was first registered in 2021, were rated as 'mundane'. "Pre-school children show poor attitudes towards their learning," the report went on. "Staff teach children about winter animals with no clear intent as to why they are doing this. They do not address misconceptions in learning, and on the rare occasion when children do find something interesting, staff stop this and inform children that they are being 'silly'."
The nursery's leaders, moreover, 'fail in their duties to be legally compliant with the requirements of their registration', added the report.
"Low expectations and an incredibly poorly designed curriculum leave children without the quality education that they rightly deserve. Gaps in learning do not close and children do not make the progress that they are capable of.
"Activities are tedious and, too often, children wander around without clear direction or purpose. Staff deployment and child supervision are very poor, but especially at the beginning of the day.
"Due to poor staff deployment and poor arrangements for child supervision, staff do not notice when there are other children's faeces on the floor and within a low-level chair. Younger children touch the faeces and put it into their mouths. This places children at a significant risk and highlights the serious weaknesses in the leadership of the setting."
Safeguarding arrangements, meanwhile, were said to be 'not effective'. "Staff do not supervise children well, which compromises children's safety. Staff are not aware of when older children climb and hang over a stair banister. Some staff leave children unattended in a room by themselves."
The Manchester Evening News went to the nursery for comment but it was shut.
Calls to the telephone line went unanswered.
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