‘Children are bored and safety is compromised,’ says Ofsted about 'inadequate' Northampton pre-school

A Northampton pre-school has been rated as ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in their latest report with concerns being raised about compromised safety, boredom and poor learning support.

Bushytails pre-school, situated at the Kingsthorpe Village Primary School on Knights Lane, was rated as ‘requires improvement’ at their previous inspection in July 2021.

Ofsted published their latest report on April 28 after an inspection was carried out in March, which rated the pre-school as ‘inadequate’ in all areas.

A spokesperson for Bushytails pre-school said: “The recent Ofsted report is disappointing and work with the Early Years’ Advisor is already in progress working through the action plan as a response to the Ofsted report.

“The Covid crisis over these two years and the timing of the inspections together with the industry wide difficulties in recruiting staff have exacerbated the situation.

“The setting is committee run and the manager and staff have had to cope without a fully functioning committee during this time.

“The election of a new committee is in process and the staff look forward to working closely with them.”

Ofsted inspectors found that staff did not have an appropriate understanding of child protection, staff expectations for children’s learning are “too low” and children grow “bored” with lack of stimulating activities.

Ofsted said: “The manager does not demonstrate the capacity to improve or sustain improvements. Breaches of requirements raised at recent Ofsted inspections have still not been addressed.

“These continued breaches compromise children's safety and ability to learn well.”

The report claims that staff are unsupported as the manager does not review teaching practice to identify weaknesses, changes to daily routines are “cumbersome” and the sharing of information with parents is infrequent.

Inspectors, however, commended childrens’ confidence and “warm” relationships with staff as well as healthy eating and appropriate hygiene.

The spokesperson for Bushytails said they have been “at the centre” of providing affordable childcare for years.

They added: “We pride ourselves on our low turnover of staff and family feel. Every staff member knows every child and we see the children’s good relationships with staff reflected daily in their confidence, communication and interactions.

“We look forward to meeting the challenges set by Ofsted and welcoming parents and children to the setting.”

Read the full Ofsted report here.