An Aberdeen childminder has agreed to never look after young children again after a scathing report from inspectors.
Olga Sevastyanova set up Sunny Garden nursery in the city’s west end last year, and received glowing results in her first inspection by care watchdogs.
But within months, a second investigation revealed the children she looked after were not safe, were not being treated with respect and were not well cared for.
Mrs Sevastyanova even revealed how one child was “excluded” from the service for being too demanding.
The childminder has now agreed to wind up her business at Whitehall Terrace after receiving the lowest grades possible for every aspect of the care she provides.
The Care Inspectorate upheld two “serious” complaints made against the service, including one that children were left in the park for too long on a cold day.
An enforcement notice was also served against Mrs Sevastyanova as a last resort, but she failed to meet any of the inspectorate’s demands.
“We found that the childminder needs to develop her knowledge about what childminding is,” a report said.
The failings came to light during an inspection in July, the results of which have now been released.
Inspectors had urged Mrs Sevastyanova to allow children to sleep when they were tired, to make sure they were fed and given access to juice and water, and to make sure they were kept warm.
They also ordered her to ensure the youngsters were supervised at all times, especially when they ate lunch, and to treat them with “value” and “respect”.
But she failed to adhere to any of their demands.
During their inspection, they watched a youngster being refused a drink of water, and criticised the “thin watery soup” with large chunks of broccoli that the kids refused to eat.
They also realised that the youngsters were being kept in an out building in Mrs Sevastyanova’s garden, instead of her own home.
Inspectors also accompanied staff and the children to the park on a hot day, and were concerned that they had warm tops and jackets on underneath high visibility vests.
While the staff removed their own jackets, they did not help the youngsters to take off theirs in 22C heat.
Parents who were asked about the service praised Mrs Sevastyanova’s approach, with one claiming her family had found a “wonderful gem” in Sunny Garden.
Other parents also liked the fact she served organic food.
But during discussions with inspectors, they were told the food was in fact not organic.
Inspectors also criticised the “unsatisfactory” environment of the service after a child had an accident in the back garden.
Mrs Sevastyanova has agreed that she should no longer look after children, and will not sign any more youngsters up.
She declined to comment when approached by the Press and Journal.