Manchester nursery to close weeks after ‘inadequate’ Ofsted inspection

A children’s nursery in south Manchester has been slammed by inspectors who accused staff of not washing their hands after wiping children’s noses.

Clever Clowns Day Nursery in Newall Green, Wythenshawe, was served a legal notice after Ofsted inspectors rated it ‘inadequate’ in all areas during a visit in October. The nursery, which has now taken all of the immediate actions required according to another report by the regulator, is set to close by Christmas.

It comes after the other branch of the nursery in Gatley was also rated inadequate in October and closed before inspectors could visit again. The Newall Green nursery, which is located at the former Eagle pub in Greenbrow Road, was rated Good in its last Ofsted inspection in 2018.

But when inspectors visited in October, they found that children’s wellbeing and safety was being compromised and raised some safeguarding concerns. They found that the quality of teaching was poor, according to a report which said the children would get bored quickly before moving onto something else.

A chocking hazard was identified in the garden, but swift action was not taken by staff, putting children at potential risk of harm or injury, the report also said.

Staff did not wash their hands after wiping children’s noses or before serving food, the report said, and they did not always ensure good hygiene is followed.

Staff were also criticised for their work on language and communication and the maths curriculum was described as poor in the report published last week.

Ofsted said it was satisfied that the nursery had met the safeguarding and welfare actions raised after carrying out a regulatory visit on November 24. However, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that the nursery is due to close later this month, following the fate of its sister site.

Clever Clowns Day Nursery in Hollyhedge Road, Gatley, was also rated inadequate by inspectors who served a welfare requirements notice.

A report from the inspection in October said that children were ‘not safe’. Inspectors described the children in the nursery as ‘unsettled’, ‘confused’ and ‘disengaged’, noting that they were not making the progress they should be.

The environment of the nursery was described as ‘incredibly disorganised’, ‘cluttered’ and ‘untidy’ with many broken and discarded items posing risks.

According to the inspection report, the nursery expressed that the pandemic has had a detrimental impact on staff wellbeing and on the children’s learning.

Ofsted confirmed that both nurseries are registered by the same sole trader, but inspectors were unable to monitor the action taken at the Gatley site in response to the legal notice as the registration was resigned on November 8.

Clever Clowns Day Nursery in Newall Green is still registered and all actions from the Welfare Requirements Notice were completed by November 24.

A spokesperson for the nursery confirmed the closure, saying that staff are helping parents find alternative childcare, but he could not comment further.

A notice on the website reads: “Opened 17.9.2007 & Closed 23.12.2022. Goodbye & Good Luck to all of our practitioners, children, our parents and carers, past and present. We will miss you all :)”