The sector has called into question the effectiveness of Ofsted’s inspection regime following a TV report revealing safeguarding and health and safety failings at a nursery rated Good.
While the Good Morning Britain report ‘Are nurseries safe?’ (see box) received criticism from the sector for failing to paint a ‘true picture’ of the standard of provision across the whole sector, it has sparked debate about whether the inspection regime needs overhauling.
In a discussion thread on Nursery World’s LinkedIn group, early years providers, practitioners and consultants argue that the time between inspections and the removal of checks by Ofsted on nursery managers makes it easy for low-quality providers to continue to operate, putting children at risk. They also claim that the reduction in local authority support for early years settings is a contributing factor.
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