Ofsted has issued a damning report on Blossom Patch Nursery in Wembley, stating that the safety and wellbeing of children is “at risk” due to serious failures in leadership, safeguarding, and staff suitability. The inspection, conducted on July 2, concluded that the nursery, which provides day-care for 63 children aged between one and four, is “not meeting the requirements of registration” and requires “urgent improvement”.
Leadership and safeguarding failures
The report criticises leadership and staff for not supporting children’s social and emotional wellbeing or individual care needs. It also highlights that weaknesses in the curriculum and teaching mean children, including those with special educational needs or disabilities, “do not make sufficient progress in their development”.
Inspectors found that leaders have not ensured that all staff are suitable to work with children, which “places children at significant risk of harm”. Those responsible for overseeing safer recruitment do not have a secure and robust understanding of their responsibilities, meaning that correct procedures are not in place to confirm staff suitability from the point of recruitment and throughout their employment.
The report states: “This means that they work unchecked in an unsupervised capacity with children and carry out tasks, such as intimate care routines. This significantly compromises the safety and wellbeing of children in their care.”
Behaviour and curriculum concerns
Children are said to “generally behave well”, but their behaviour is not consistently managed in an appropriate way. Due to “weakness in leadership”, staff are “not skilled enough” to correctly support children’s needs, such as helping them at sleep times or engaging them safely in group activities.
The report adds: “Not every child is prepared for their next stage in learning, including their transition to school. This is because leaders lack the oversight of curriculum planning and implementation in the setting and teaching is not adapted to meet each child's individual needs. Therefore, children's achievement is limited.”
Additionally, while children are said to “generally settle into nursery quickly” on arrival, they come in at different times during the day and staff “do not always know” when this will be. Due to “inconsistencies in their approach” to attendance, the whereabouts of children is not always known, which poses a “safeguarding concern about children’s welfare and wellbeing”.
Parent feedback and regulatory visit
Despite these issues, parents are said to “speak positively” about the nursery and the information they receive about their child’s progress. The report notes: “They feel confident to address any concerns should they arise. Leaders arrange regular opportunities for parents to visit and spend time with their children in the setting.”
Following the initial inspection, Ofsted carried out a regulatory visit on July 27 to check whether the nursery had met the safeguarding and welfare actions raised. These actions included ensuring all staff are suitable and have relevant checks and training, tailoring care to individual needs, instilling a consistent behaviour management approach, and implementing effective arrangements for children with special educational needs or disabilities.
Ofsted said of the regulatory visit: “We found that the provider had met some of the actions set in the welfare requirement notice but not others. We found that safeguarding policies and procedures had been redistributed to staff. However, staff and leaders remained unclear about the procedures to follow in the event of allegations being raised. Therefore, safeguarding practices in the setting remain a concern.”
Blossom Patch Nursery was approached for comment but did not respond ahead of publication. A spokesperson for Brent Council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We are aware of Ofsted's inspection findings relating to Blossom Patch nursery in Wembley. While the nursery is an independent provider and is responsible for responding to the report, we take the quality and safety of early years provision in Brent very seriously. We will review the findings and continue to work with childcare providers and partners across the borough to support high-quality early education and care for local children and families.”
