HOLLINS Park Nursery in Daisy Hill gets a slating by OFSTED who threatened closure and prosecution over inspection finding.

However, the parents are happy with the nursery. Why the huge difference in the perception of children’s safety and welfare at the nursery?

Cast your mind back to June last year. A nursery called Little Ted’s in Plymouth was shut down and Vanessa George, a senior member at that nursery, was jailed this November as part of a paedophile ring having systematically abused children at that nursery over a period of time and passed photos of the abuse to her boyfriend. But OFSTED had audit findings to report Little Ted’s Nursery as good!

A review and report of events was conducted by Plymouth Safeguarding Children Board which found serious flaws in the interaction and conduct of the responsible authorities. OFSTED was criticised severely in that report, which found a tickbox attitude and that OFSTED did not pick up on concerns expressed.

Little Ted’s was a massive wakeup call for all involved, and that change is now being forcibly drawn to our country’s nurseries.

The second problem that comes with systems changes is the adaption of the people concerned. It would seem that the OFSTED audit team for Hollins Park Nursery has taken an extreme attitude and zero tolerance to any non-compliance.

Some may say, protecting their own backsides because of the Little Ted’s findings; that maybe more experienced audit leadership would have reconciled the non-compliances found and resolved the issues without recourse to threats of prosecution and closure An experienced auditor can pick up much more information from looking and listening than speaking, as auditing involves all forms of communication including personnel demeanour and body language.

So serious problems become obvious in the course of the audit. From personal experience as a past governor of a high school in the region, OFSTED inspections put the fear of God into teachers and school senior management teams alike which is counter productive and in most cases causes unnecessary stress, and that can mask the very information the audit requires.

Hollins Park Nursery is right to demand an appeal and point out their case. Small noncompliances should not bring swingeing sanctions, and the OFSTED inspectors need to justify their actions.

Ainslie Casson MA Church Walks Westhoughton