Nursery given worst possible rating as kids cause havoc during nap time

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A nursery where children jump on beds during sleep time has been blasted by an inspector.

Sunrise Community Nurseries in Brockley was given the worst possible rating of inadequate following an Ofsted visit in May.

Staff were criticised for leaving cleaning products within kids’ reach, even after they were alerted to the problem by the inspector.

The nursery, which has 120 children on its roll, sometimes failed to record injuries to kids from one another, a report published on June 23 found.

The report reads: “On occasion, the poor implementation of routines, such as the post-lunch preparation for toddler sleep time, has an impact on children’s behaviour. Children get up after waiting some time to be soothed to sleep. Others begin to jump on beds.

An inspector found the nursery in Brockley Way had failed to inform Ofsted and other relevant agencies about concerns about the suitability of staff.

Workers at the nursery, which looks after children aged 0 to eight, were unsure about who they should report concerns about kids to when their manager wasn’t around, the inspector also noted.

The report continues: “Leaders and staff do not implement procedures sufficiently well to ensure children’s safety and well-being. The emotional well-being of some children is not adequately considered, for example when their key persons are deployed into different rooms.

“Some children, including those who speak or hear a language other than English at home, have few opportunities to learn new words and develop their early communication skills.”

But the report said that children enjoyed their time outdoors at the nursery, noting that toddlers liked exploring tunnels and slopes, while young children enjoyed dragging items around with their friends. “Babies feed themselves and become more confident to move around,” the report added.

Sunrise Community Nurseries was previously rated “good” overall by Ofsted after its last inspection in 2019.

The visit in May was the first time the nursery had been inspected by the education watchdog since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sunrise Community Nurseries was contacted for comment but hadn’t replied at the time of publication.

Pictured top: Sunrise Community Nurseries in Brockley was rated inadequate by Ofsted (Picture: Google Street View)