‘Inadequate’ Caddington pre-school given deadlines to improve by Ofsted

Caddington Pre School has been set deadlines for improvements after a damning Ofsted report.

The school was found to be inadequate in every category during an inspection carried out in November.

Inspector Amy Clarkson set out a list of deadlines for improvement, including several for this Friday. These include ensuring any concerns about a child’s welfare are acted upon swiftly and ensuring staff know they have to disclose any convictions, cautions, court orders, reprimands and warnings that may affect their suitability to work with children.

The pre-school says it immediately addressed concerns raised by the inspector.

The report states: “Children's welfare is not protected. Partnerships with parents are weak. Key persons do not work closely with families to support the needs of children. As a result, leaders and managers are not alert to issues of concern in a child's life at home or elsewhere. Information about children's general health is not discussed and parents are not signposted towards support. Staff do not take time to forge relationships with parents in the early stages of a child joining the pre-school.

“The lack of ongoing training for staff means that not all children receive a rich quality of education. Staff do not ensure that children experience broad and suitably challenging opportunities to learn. While activities reflect children's emerging interests, the next steps identified by staff are not always appropriate to help children develop to their full potential."

Ms Clarkson said: “Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are not supported well. There is no special educational needs coordinator in place to specifically focus on ensuring children with SEND make the progress they are capable of.”

The report said: “On the day of the inspection, the manager was not able to demonstrate how she continues to check the ongoing suitability of staff”, adding “This poses a potential risk to the safety of children”.

"The manager does not know if all her staff team continue to be suitable to work with children. Managers and leaders do not act on concerns within a child's life, such as potential signs of neglect.”

But the report also highlighted some good points.

It said: “Despite this, children are confident in the pre-school and enjoy attending. Staff are sensitive to children's emotional needs and are kind and caring in their approach. They offer lots of cuddles and reassurance, which helps children to settle. Children behave well and they tidy up with each other.

“Children enjoy interacting with staff members. For example, children go 'shopping' in their pretend greengrocer's shop. Staff speak to them about coupons, money, and debit cards. Children sit during snack time and discuss the different fruits that they are going to be trying.

“Parents report that they are happy with the care their children receive.”

Niki Summers, manager at the pre-school, said: “Although we are disappointed with the outcome from our Ofsted inspection the feedback from our inspector on the day had many positive comments reflecting our practice. We immediately addressed the concerns raised at feedback which were met before the end of the autumn term and before the draft report was issued. Concerns raised in the report are being addressed and deadlines being met.”