A ‘chaotic’ nursery where children are not properly supervised has been handed an ‘inadequate’ rating by Ofsted inspectors.

Tick Tock Day Nursery in Old Hill has been slapped with the worst possible rating by the education watchdog with inspectors finding that staff were not meeting the needs of children during an inspection in November last year.

Ofsted said the nursery was not well-organised and often “chaotic” – particularly during meal times. Under-pressure staff were not able to supervise children properly, inspectors said, and spent more time directing agency staff than meeting the needs of children.

The nursery was given ‘inadequate’ ratings across the board by Ofsted inspectors – receiving the worst possible score for the quality of education and the behaviour and personal development of children. The nursery’s leadership and management was also rated inadequate. 

Ofsted said the nursery was facing a “challenging time” and staffing issues had a “significant impact on the quality of care and education” of the children.

The nursery, which has been open for more than 20 years, now has 65 children on its roll according to Ofsted. Inspectors said:

“The premises and environments are not well organised. This means that, at times, incidents go unnoticed by staff. Children are not always adequately supervised to ensure their safety.

“In addition, some aspects of the day, particularly mealtimes, become chaotic because staff do not organise these effectively and children spend too long sitting down. 

Ofsted said poor organisation meant children were not supervised ‘adequately’ and staff often missed them climbing on tables and helping themselves to food.

“Staff are not organised and prepared for mealtimes. This results in all children sitting for long periods. In addition, some children sit with no food because staff have failed to retrieve their packed lunches. Consequently, children become bored and restless. When children’s meals do arrive, they get up and leave the table, and this disrupts others.”

“Children’s safety and wellbeing are not assured,” Ofsted continued. “Staff lack vigilance when supervising children, and do not respond effectively to help children manage their behaviours when they become frustrated. This results in children having outbursts of unwanted behaviour and throwing toys at their peers.

The nursery had its registration suspended suddenly by Ofsted in June last year over safeguarding concerns. The nursery, which at the time had around 140 children on its roll, closed for several weeks while Ofsted investigated.

The report revealed that staff did not have time to engage in conversation with children and were not helping them show a positive attitude towards learning. 

Children do not receive consistent messages about behaviour expectations,” the report by Ofsted said. “When children become frustrated, effective strategies are not used to help them to overcome this.”

“Consequently, children’s prior experiences and next steps for learning are not considered when activities are carried out,” Ofsted said. Children are told they cannot join an activity because there is not enough space. In addition, agency staff do not have the knowledge of what the learning intentions are for the activities they carry out. As a result, children do not engage in purposeful learning.”

Tick Tock Day Nursery declined to comment.