A BRADFORD nursery has has been accused of leaving children at risk in a new Ofsted report which has seen it plunge down the ratings to be labelled "inadequate" by inspectors.

The Margaret McMillan Children's Centre in Farnham Road, Great Horton, had previously been ranked "outstanding" but achieved poor results for the way it meets the needs of children attending, the way it contributes to their well-being and the effectiveness of management and leadership.

Ofsted inspector Amanda Forrest even warned: "Young children are at risk of choking as they wander around with toothbrushes in their mouths, while staff are busy tidying away."

A spokesman at the nursery told the Telegraph & Argus: "We have only just come back from holidays so we have only just read the report at the moment and not had time to digest it.

"It is quite raw at the moment."

Parent Kaneez Fatima who is on the committee and whose two children go there, came to its defence, however, stating "disappointment" at the way the Ofsted report had been handled.

Major criticisms in the report included: "Leadership and management of the setting is inadequate. This has led to breaches of the legal requirements relating to notifying Ofsted of changes to the registration and to significant weaknesses in the learning and development requirements.

"Staff are not always effectively using their observations to accurately monitor children's progress across all areas of learning or to clearly identify next steps in learning so that they can plan challenging experiences.

"Staff are not always pro-active in risk assessing specific activities they are undertaking, especially with regard to the younger children brushing their teeth after meals.

"In addition, there is not enough emphasis placed on adopting effective hygiene routines during mealtimes and developing children's understanding of healthy meals.

"Staffing is not robustly planned by management to ensure that there is always sufficient deployment of staff who hold a relevant paediatric first-aid qualification."

The centre was registered in 1999 and is run by a voluntary committee and cared for 78 children when the inspection was conducted last month.

It is funded to provide childcare for those in the two to four age range and has 21 staff, including 17 with early years qualifications at level three or above.

Despite the criticisms, the report highlights positive aspects of the centre, stating: "Overall, children are generally working within the typical range of development expected for their age and make satisfactory progress in readiness for school.

"Staff created a warm and caring environment for children to learn in. They sit close to children and involve themselves in pay opportunities, which children clearly enjoy."

Child protection was also given a high priority, said the report.

A Bradford Council spokesman said: "It is not an official children’s centre. There are registered children’s centres. This is a private provider that provides nursery care that just happens to call itself a children’s centre."

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