Setting

Summary of complaint

On 7 March 2011, we received a complaint that raised concerns that a member of staff had pushed over a child who had hit another child; that a member of staff was left alone on two occasions for half an hour each time to care for 10 or 11 children; that children were being transported without the appropriate car seats and by staff who do not hold appropriate car insurance. Also that staff were asked to lie to Ofsted about their qualifications and to say that other staff were at lunch. We needed to investigate these concerns to see whether the setting was meeting the Early Years Foundation Stage Welfare Requirements relating to 'safeguarding and promoting children's welfare' and 'suitable people'. In particular, these include requirements that state children's behaviour must be managed effectively and in a manner appropriate for their stage of development and particular needs, staffing arrangements must be arranged to ensure safety and to meet the needs of

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Summary of complaint

the children, the provider must take necessary steps to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and that providers must ensure that adults looking after children, or having unsupervised access to them are suitable to do so.

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Summary of complaint

We do not investigate to prove or disprove a complaint but we look into the information we receive to see if the childcare provider is meeting all legal requirements. We carried out an unannounced visit to the premises and found that the provider was meeting the legal requirements in relation to the above complaint. Although it was not part of the original complaint, we identified that the safeguarding policy and procedure was not accessible at the premises and that staff did not have an adequate understanding of the safeguarding policy and procedure. The provider was unable to provide a written record of all complaints made and the action that was taken as a result of each complaint. The provider was unable to evidence how she meets the requirement that half of all staff hold a full and relevant level 2 qualification. The risk assessment did not cover everything with which a child may come into contact with and did not identify aspects of the environment that need to be

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Summary of complaint

checked on a regular basis. Records were not maintained for all staff of the information that has been used to asses suitability to demonstrate to Ofsted that checks have been done. This includes the date that Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks were obtained and evidence of staff qualifications.

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Summary of complaint

Following our investigation, we sent the provider a notice of action to improve that asks them to:

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Summary of complaint

ensure that an effective safeguarding children policy and procedure is implemented and understood by all staff - (The Early Years Foundation Stage General Welfare Requirements - Safeguarding and prompting children's welfare)

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Summary of complaint

provide Ofsted, on request, with a written record of all complaints made during any specified period and the action that was taken as a result of each complaint (The Early Years Foundation Stage General Welfare Requirements - Safeguarding and prompting children's welfare)

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Summary of complaint

provide evidence of how you will ensure that half of all staff hold a full and relevant level 2 qualification - (The Early Years Foundation Stage General Welfare Requirements - Suitable people)

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Summary of complaint

develop further the risk assessment to ensure it covers anything with which a child may come into contact with and that it identifies aspects of the environment that need to be checked on a regular basis - (The Early Years Foundation Stage General Welfare Requirements - Suitable premises, environment and equipment)

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Summary of complaint

ensure that records are maintained of the information used to asses suitability to demonstrate to Ofsted that checks have been done. Such records must include the unique reference number of the CRB disclosure obtained and the date on which they were obtained - (The Early Years Foundation Stage General Welfare Requirements - Suitable people).

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Summary of complaint

On 5 May 2011 we carried out a monitoring visit and found that staff now have an adequate knowledge and understanding of how to safeguard children. However, the four other actions that were set were not met and were re-issued in a Welfare Requirement Notice.

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Summary of complaint

The provider had not maintained an accurate record of children's attendance and records were not easily accessible and available for inspection. We issued a welfare requirement notice as these welfare requirements were not met. We also found that that the fire exit was not safe and secure and that the provider had not kept records about vehicles in which children are transported. We issued a notice of action to improve regarding these matters.

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Summary of complaint

We carried out a monitoring visit on 1 June 2011 and found that 2 of the actions in the welfare requirement notice had not been fully met. We therefore re-issued them with a new due date of 20 June 2011.

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Summary of complaint

On 8 July 2011, the provider resigned the registration for this setting.

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Publication of complaints

We publish details of complaints made against childminders, home childcarers and childcare providers where we or the provider have taken action in order to meet legal requirements.

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Publication of complaints

We publish details of complaints for five years commencing on the date we complete our investigation.

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Publication of complaints

For further information about the complaints process please view the Concerns and complaints about childminders and childcare providers leaflet (Reference no. 080120)

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