Lack of care in handling tots in high chairs lands Forest Hill nursery black marks

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Children were dragged across a room in unfastened high chairs at a nursery downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted.

An inspector from the education watchdog found staff didn’t know how to handle children safely when they visited Forest Hill Nursery, in Devonshire Road, in March.

Workers led children by their wrists and forearms, which put children at risk of getting hurt, a report published by Ofsted said following the inspection.

The inspector concluded that children’s safety was compromised by ‘poor practice’ and ‘insufficient oversight’ at the nursery, which looks after about 30 children aged from one to three.

The report said: “Young children are left in high chairs for extended periods of time without the safety straps being used. Children then become bored and attempt to reach out around them, which is unsafe.

“Staff fail to recognise the risk of dragging the high chairs across the room with children still sitting in them without safety straps fastened.

“Leaders are not always good role models for staff. They are unaware of safe ways to handle children as they lead children by holding their forearms or wrists, which places children at risk of injury.”

Bosses at the nursery were criticised for leaving inexperienced agency workers to deal with difficult kids. The report said staff shortages meant children were sometimes grouped together for long periods of time, which resulted in the room becoming overcrowded and chaotic.

Planned activities were described as ‘lacking focus’ and ‘unmeaningful’. Children were left to their own devices for ‘unacceptable’ lengths of time and became bored and disengaged the report added.

Despite this, the inspector noted that children developed some skills and enjoyed building train tracks and towers out of toys provided. “Staff introduce simple mathematical concepts into children’s play such as counting, shapes and size,” the report added.

Quality of education, behaviour, personal development and management were all judged to be ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted. At the nursery’s previous inspection in May 2022, these areas were all rated ‘good’.

When Forest Hill Nursery was contacted, the manager declined to comment on the report. She said: “I’m too busy. I just have too many children at the moment. I have to get back to them.”

Pictured top: Living Springs International Church, in Devonshire Road, which is home to the Forest Hill Nursery (Picture: Google Street View)