Northampton nursery graded ‘inadequate’ in all areas says Ofsted’s approach is ‘fundamentally flawed’

A Dallington nursery, that recently received the worst possible Ofsted inspection outcome, says improvement plans will be to “no avail” as rising costs mean it has to close down for good.

Whiz Kids Dallington, in Gladstone Road, was graded inadequate in all areas following an inspection in May. The nursery’s director, however, says the report is just a “snapshot” of the few hours that inspectors are onsite.

Whiz Kids director, Liz Debenham, said: “Whilst we can see the idea behind this, we do feel this approach is fundamentally flawed with the inability to accurately reflect the true standard of a setting, the ‘big picture’.”

Ofsted raised concerns about staff not having suitable safeguarding knowledge or the coaching they need to improve their teaching and interactions with children. Inspectors also found that staff are not being deployed effectively - regularly being called away from engaging with children.

The education watchdog also claimed there were issues with children not being supervised properly and medication being left within their reach.

The report does, however, say that parents are happy with the nursery, children's behaviour is good overall and staff are described as “friendly and approachable.”

Ms Debenham told Chronicle & Echo that all concerns mentioned in the report had already been identified by the nursery and they have ongoing plans in place to address them.

She said: “We fully realise there is still work to do and we are working hard to make our nursery the best it can be. We have a very strong and talented team who have made such a difference to the children we care for – just ask our parents who see the results.”

These plans, however, will be to no avail. The continued increase in wages and ongoing rising costs not being matched by funding the nursery receives for providing care means that Whiz Kids is no longer viable.

The nursery will be joining the accelerating national list of closing nurseries and close its doors on Friday, July 21.

Ms Debenham told this newspaper: “We have tried all ways to avoid this over the last few months but ultimately the inadequate funding levels have dictated we have to close.”

Read the full Ofsted report here.