Children who attended an Ardersier nursery, which closed without warning this week, were put at serious risk according to a new inspection report.
Parents with children at Country Bumpkins Nursery were told via an app on Sunday afternoon that it would not open on Monday.
Now it has emerged the nursery’s closure was ahead of a damning inspection report being published.
Inspectors visited last month unannounced and gave the key elements of care a rating of either weak or unsatisfactory.
In the report Country Bumpkins was rated 2/6 for its care, play and learning; setting; and staff team. It received the poorest rating of 1/6 for its leadership.
Parents were left scrambling for childcare after the shock closure.
Country Bumpkins inspection
The inspectors found a lack of consistency regarding the administration of medicine, dirty outdoor equipment and inadequate nappy changing facilities.
They were “very concerned” about the care provided and found major issues with management including proper staff checks not completed.
The report states: “We found that there was no effective audit of staff’s registration with professional bodies and as a result a member of staff was working with children whilst not appropriately registered. This had the potential to put children at serious risk.
“There were no established processes or procedures for staff to report or record child protection concerns.
“Staff, including the management team, did not identify and act on concerns to protect children from harm. As a result, children were not kept safe and protected.”
According to the report, staff roles and responsibilities were unclear, with an incident observed showing the children were not “adequately supervised”.
“We observed children in need of comfort and reassurance wandering unnoticed and on one occasion a young child had a stone close to their mouth which was not noticed by staff. This put children’s safety and wellbeing at risk.”
A nursery nightmare
The report has left parents shocked with previous inspections in 2020 leaving Country Bumpkins highly rated.
One parent whose child was in on the days the inspection took place said: “I read the report with tears in my eyes feeling like I had failed my little boy.
“To know that he was being left in an environment where he was potentially at risk of harm is something that I don’t think I can forgive myself for.
“I remember doing so much research into finding a setting that my little boy would flourish in and to know that I sent him into a potentially dangerous situation on a daily basis makes me feel sick.
“These past few days have been absolute hell for us as a family.”
The mum said that the kids had “such a lovely bond with the staff” and told of how they worked “incredibly hard to support the children”.
She continued: “I just want to say that I have nothing but respect for the staff that worked with my little boy.
“The care and attention they gave him always shone through and they were clearly trying to do their best in what appeared to be some very challenging circumstances.
“Those staff have supported us in the days following the closure to provide emergency childcare.
“I am hugely grateful to them for still supporting the parents and children at what must also be a really difficult time for them.”
The directors of the nursery have been asked to comment.
A statement to parents said: “We are so sorry for putting you all in this situation, but we have no other choice due to the current private nursery staffing crisis which has left us in a situation where we cannot open all rooms next week.
“Administrators will take over from some point this week and final bills will be issued by them.”
