Caterham nursery where toddler 'ate cereal off the floor' told it requires improvement

Rainbows Day Nursery, in White Knobs Way, was visited by Ofsted inspectors in December

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Emily Coady-StempLocal democracy reporter

11:33, 24 MAR 2023
Updated12:25, 31 MAR 2023

The Caterham nursery was visited by Ofsted inspectors in December (Image: Lourdes Balduque via Getty Images)

A Caterham nursery where inspectors said cereal was trodden into the carpet and picked up and eaten has been told it "requires improvement" by an education watchdog. Ofsted visited Rainbows Day Nursery, in White Knobs Way, and found that the health and safety of children was impacted by a lack of adequate cleaning up and plates being dropped on the floor outside and not replaced.

Inspectors rated the nursery as "requires improvement" overall and in each of the areas of quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. The report, published on March 15 after an inspection in December, said children were cared for in a secure environment, and enjoyed their time at the nursery, but that staff did not "always take prompt action to identify possible health and safety hazards".

It found that before putting young children in high chairs, staff put food trays on the ground and did not always clean them again before children ate their lunchtime meal from them. Inspectors also said: "Cereal found scattered on the floor after a messy play activity in the baby room is not adequately cleaned up.

"This results in children treading it into the carpet and a child picking it up and eating it. In addition, in the garden at snack time, plates that have been dropped on the floor are not replaced for the children. This impacts on the health and safety of the children attending the setting."

The nursery, which has 30 places in total for children aged up to four, was registered in 2013. Inspectors also said babies and toddlers at the nursery "engage and delight in sensory play, sprinkling and crunching cereals, which helps to develop their physical skills".

But the report also said staff working with babies did not monitor the learning environment well enough and that sometimes "the amount of discarded resources on the floor makes it difficult for the youngest children to move around easily". The report went on: "Overall, children enjoy their time at the nursery and make steady progress in their learning and development.

"However, there are identified weaknesses in leadership and management and staff's practice which impacts on the organisation of some daily routines, such as at mealtimes, and the health and safety of youngest children attending the setting."

According to the report, parents spoke positively about the setting and the "friendly and supportive" staff who kept parents informed about children's learning at the end of each day and at regular parents' evenings. Inspectors said key workers offered "cuddles and reassurance" to children who were hesitant about coming in and staff acted as "good role models", praising children's good behaviour.

In order to improve, inspectors said the leadership team needed to take all reasonable steps to ensure staff and children in their care were not exposed to health and safety risks while attending the setting. Rainbows Day Nursery was approached for comment but did not respond.