Maisie Days Nursery: Sheffield daycare hits back at 'unjust' Ofsted report rating them 'Inadequate'

After 10 years in operation and three previous ‘Good’ gradings by the watchdog, Maisie Days Ltd, trading as ‘The Nursery’, in Lodge Lane, Aston, has been dropped to the lowest rating possible and placed in special measures.

Inspectors claim staff did not have “a good understanding of how to safeguard children”, that hazards were not risk assessed, that little ones “do not make good enough progress” in their learning and that they found nappy changes to be “unhygienic”. They also felt interactions between staff and children “lacked purpose” and were “left to their own devices”, while the learning environment “lacked interest”. Ofsted also felt children were not recognised for their achievements during playtime, and that parents told them they did not get feedback about how their child was doing.

The report reads: "There has been no consideration of what is needed to meet the individual needs of all children, including their safety and well-being [...]. Activities are poor and children are not well occupied. The room is very noisy, with some children shrieking and wildly running around. Items are thrown, which results in injuries to children.

"Risk assessments are not good enough. Several hazards were pointed out by the inspector during the visit. These included two large metal cans with rust on the outside in the baby room, a damaged table, damaged radiator covers and wires hanging down in loops.”

Inspectors did feel, though, that children did as they were told, that babies seemed happy and

The unannounced inspection in September was reportedly brought on by an anonymous complaint. As a result, the nursery was given the lowest-grade possible and handed a list of measures to improve. They will be revisited within six months.

In a statement to The Star, owner Mae Moldison said all key areas had been addressed, with staff receiving fresh training and with hazards in the playroom removed. They also say they have written a complaint to Ofsted that their education and nappy changing were not fairly assessed. They added that their manager at the time had only been in her post for eight days at time of the inspection.

In a letter home to parents, Mrs Boldison and manager Vicktorija Inta said they felt the inspection was “harsh,” “quite unjust” and “uncomfortable reading”.

They wrote: “It should go without saying that after operating The Nursery for almost 10 years now, and with three ‘Good’ inspections behind us, we are devastated by this outcome and consider it harsh and quite unjust.

"The welfare requirements within the report were responded to immediately and the re-visit from the inspector on September 29 confrmed that we had all of these requirements in place. In fact the inspector was complimentary at this visit about the work that had taken place since her previous visit, and with the responses from staff regarding knowledge on safeguarding.

"To close, we would like our parents to understand clearly that none of our responses are intended as excuses but as explanations, explanations that add important context to the Ofsted Report. Rest assured we are working hard and continuously to restore standards to our pre-pandemic ‘Good’ levels.”