Ofsted rated Acton Day Nursery as 'Inadequate' in all areas following an inspection in July where it observed that staff were insufficiently trained, and the facility lacked adequate resources.

The nursery on Acton High Street, Ealing, received the lowest rating from Ofsted after failing to meet satisfactory criteria across all sections which assessed the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.

This is a significant regression from their previous inspection in 2018, in which the nursery was judged as 'good' overall.

Inspectors were unimpressed by the inability of the staff to complete "effective risk assessments to ensure children's safety and well being." Procedures to ensure prohibited foods were kept away from the nursery were deemed as "not robust" as staff were not taking the necessary precautions to "ensure that potential harmful ingredients [were] not present in children's lunches."

Ofsted also reported that adequate hygiene routines were difficult to follow due to a lack of basic sanitation products. Inspectors commented that "soap and towels are not available at all times to enable children to become independent by completing routines, such as handwashing" meaning children often returned to the playroom with wet hands.

Despite the best efforts of the staff to coordinate activities that will be enjoyed by the children, inspectors described such activities as "not well thought out." They expressed concern over the fact that group activities are provided in the same area which limits the space available for the children to move around in. Consequently, the children quickly lose their attention spans and interactions between staff and children "cannot be maintained due to the level of noise in the confined area."

Staff admitted that they would benefit from more training in how to identify "emerging additional needs" amongst children as they "do not feel skilled enough to introduce activities to support individual children."

Amongst Ofsted's recommendations for improvements were suggestions to include the provision of soap and towels in daily health and safety checks, to share information with staff on how to support children with special education needs and to introduce procedures which ensure all children's individual allergen and dietary requirements are adhered to.

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To read the full report from Ofsted, click here.

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