Bole Hill Nursery: Sheffield parents rally behind nursery following 'inadequate' Ofsted report

Bole Hill Nursery was rated ‘Good’ in its last visit in 2018, when inspectors said staff had a “strong commitment to improving outcomes” for their little ones.

But now, the daycare provider has now been branded ‘Inadequate’ in all areas following a visit by the education watchdog in December, even prompting a follow-up letter of concern after Ofsted warned the nursery was not taking swift enough action to address failings.

In fact, the scathing report criticised seemingly every aspect of Bole Hill, including play room conditions, safety, staff training, the relationships between staff and children, the treatment of children who do not speak English as a first language, and hygiene.

In a statement, nursery manager Nicola Moore said she felt the report was “unfair” and “written very negatively”, adding that the inspector was “much happier” in a follow up visit in late December.

More than a dozen parents have contacted The Star in shock at the report and to testify their experiences of the nursery had only been positive.

Inspectors say staff failed to show understanding of safeguarding policy, and did not see how large buckets of rainwater in the outdoor space were hazardous. Children learned in ‘unsuitably cold’ rooms, reportedly did not often have a named key person, and appeared “disengaged and bored” during the inspection.

The report reads: “Staff do not consider the impact of the very low room temperatures on children's well-being. They do not turn on the additional heaters in the rooms where these are available…Managers do not take steps to ensure children are only cared for in the heated rooms until inspectors bring this to their attention.

“Children do not always have a named key person…Babies seek out unfamiliar adults for comfort because they have not been able to develop warm, trusting relationships with a known adult. Children's individual personal care needs are not considered.

“Children wander around and appear bored. They do not make the good progress of which they are capable…Children who speak English as an additional language are rarely spoken to.

“Staff share stories with children but do not read to them in a way that excites or interests them. They continue reading when children are not listening. When children offer their ideas, staff tell them not to interrupt.”

The report made compliments about healthy meals for children and the SENCo provision, as well as parent feedback.

Ofsted has now branded Bole Hill with the lowest rating available and dropped it into special measures, with orders of what must improve.

However, on the day the report was published (January 12), 16 separate households with children at Bole Hill wrote to The Star to decry the report.

“This couldn't be further from our experience of the nursery,” wrote mum Lee Moss. “We see every day how our boy is nurtured by your wonderful staff. He loves going here and we struggle to get him to leave at pick-up.”

"My son started Bole hill Nursery at nine months old,” wrote parents Ashleigh and Rudy Smith. “Going back to work and leaving you baby is a very scary time.

“Fast forward to now and I have a confident and happy nearly two-year-old who doesn’t want to leave when I pick him up.

“He comes home covered head to toe in paint because he’s had a great day, this is usually along with a bag of wet clothes in his bag from outside play.

“Reading the report was heartbreaking because its just not true. My son, and every other child in that nursery are loved, cared for and have a fantastic time.”

“My children have never been cold,” wrote mum Annie Juckes. “I’ve never had concerns around safeguarding and never have bored children.”

“Definitely feels like it’s painted a very unfair picture of the nursery,” wrote Lee Wraith. “We’ve never had any issues with Corey, only getting him out of the building when it’s home time.”

In a statement, manager Nicola Moore wrote that staff refresher training has taken place and they were “now working on other points raised by inspections” ahead of a revisit this year.

Ms Moore said: “We are very disappointed with the points raised as we feel these are not a true picture of our setting, many of them are unfair and the way the report is written is very negative. We have raised this with the inspector as it has tarnished the whole nursery with one brush and painted a very negative picture. During the second visit the inspector was much happier and more confident in our practice and happier with the settings environment.

"As it is an inadequate judgement any positive findings have been completely left out of the report even though they were discussed with us on the day. We do have very good relationships with parents and they are very supportive of the setting and happy with the care they receive.

"As a setting we have a clear action plan which we are working on to achieve the points raised by the inspection as soon as possible.

"I am sure you will understand that the whole team are all very upset by this as we all work very hard to ensure we provide the best care possible for the children in our nursery.”