A nursery which closed suddenly last month leaving parents hundreds of pounds out of pocket had been inspected just days earlier and found to be 'inadequate' at every level.
We reported how families with youngsters at Windsor Road Day Nursery in Newton Heath were informed late on September 13 that the place would be closed from the following morning.
What they weren't told is that Ofsted had visited just days earlier and - after discovering numerous failings - had demanded a number of improvements be made before September 16.
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The Ofsted report, published last week, said that even on the day of the inspection, children were 'at further risk of harm'.
"The provider and staff do not take all necessary steps to minimise risks to children," it says. "This has led to an unfortunate incident where a child has suffered a significant injury. In addition, despite a risk assessment of the premises being carried out on the day of the inspection, staff fail to notice that in the children's bathroom there is a basket of toiletries and an open plastic wrapper within easy reach of the children. These failings place children at further risk of harm.
"There are insufficient staff on the premises to meet the needs of the children. As a result, the environment quickly becomes disorganised and, at times, chaotic."
Having previously been rated 'outstanding', the report says 'the setting has undergone a lot of changes to leadership and staffing'.
"As a result, standards have declined since the last inspection," it says. "The nominated individual does not provide enough oversight, support and guidance to staff. As a result, there are breaches to requirements that have a significant impact on children's health, safety and learning. On the day of the inspection, there were not enough staff present early in the morning to keep children safe and to ensure their care and learning needs are met."
Referring to the incident in which a child was injured, the report states that 'the arrangements for safeguarding are not effective'.
"Staff do not implement the setting's risk assessment procedures robustly enough," it says. "This leaves children exposed to undue risks and has resulted in a child being involved in a serious accident. In addition, certain items, such as deodorant, air freshener and an open plastic wrapper, have been left by the staff within easy reach of the children.
"Although staff are encouraged to read the setting's safeguarding policy and procedure, leaders do not check that all staff have understood this so they can identify and act on any possible risks to children. These weaknesses place children at significant risk of harm and compromise their health, safety and well-being."
When parents were told about the closure they were told it had been done 'with a heavy heart' and followed months of financial struggle for the childcare setting. The company also closed All Stars Out Of School Club at nearby All Saints Primary School at the same time.
But one mum, whose two-year-old son was only taken on at the nursery six weeks before the closure and claims she is now owed hundreds of pounds, says they have been lied to.
"In my opinion this report shows they've fed everyone a pack of lies and - based on what they found - my son has largely been neglected during his time there," she said.
"They shouldn't have taken him on if they didn't have enough staff as it put him at risk. I now know of a child sustaining the significant injury it mentions and it was a day my son was there so we feel lucky it wasn't him."
The mum, who did not want to be named, told us last month how she was owed more than £400, but has since worked out it's even more.
"We are looking into what action we can take as we are so so angry and have still not even received the liquidation company details and it transpires we've lost even more," she said.
"We hadn't realised but as we'd had to double pay a nursery in September, the 20% tax free childcare allowance had been used for the three-month period so I've had to find another extra £135 than I would have ordinarily."
The mum said she was shocked to read the findings of the inspection, adding: "I had to read it a few times to digest how it wasn't closed down on the spot. It explains so much."
The closure of both settings affected 38 children in total, leaving staff to find work elsewhere. At the time owner Donna Johnson told the Manchester Evening News she was 'heartbroken' over the decision.
"The nursery has been struggling financially for a number of months due to a downturn in the requirement for childcare following the COVID-19 pandemic and we have been having to put money from our own personal finances due to the low funding rates and record high inflation rates to cover wages and bills," she said.
"We had hoped that by September, we would have new children start with us in the new term and the business would get back on its feet. Unfortunately, that has not been the case and we took the difficult decision on Tuesday to close immediately as we would be unable to pay wages at the end of the month as the business was no longer sustainable."
The improvements the nursery was ordered to make included identifying and removing risks to children, ensuring staff had 'a thorough understanding of the setting's safeguarding policy' and ensuring there were enough staff to 'provide adequate supervision' and meet the children's needs.
The report says the nursery, registered under Johnson Day Care Ltd, opened in 2013 and employed 12 members of childcare staff.
It rated it 'inadequate' for the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.
Responding to the parent's comments, owner Donna Johnson said that - at the time of the closure - she was 'not able to discuss the Ofsted inspection as the report was in draft phase and this included being unable to tell the nursery staff of the outcome'.
"The decision to close the nursery was still purely based on financial problems," she said. "Ofsted did not close the nursery and if there were finances available to us then the nursery would have stayed open.
"The issues identified by Ofsted would have been dealt with and on reinspection in the coming months we would have hoped to receive a much better outcome.
"There have been no lies told as to why the nursery closed. We had struggled with staffing due to staff leaving for other roles, but at no point has a child ever been neglected at nursery and I feel that this is an unfair and untrue comment to make."
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