1 week Ago By [email protected] (Elli Hodgson)
A mum-of-two has spoken of her “distress” and financial fears after a village nursery shut suddenly following an Ofsted complaint. Parents have been left scrambling to find childcare cover after the Easter holidays following the suspension of Abacus Nursery in Headcorn. Some also fear a “significant financial impact” if they can’t find adequate alternative placements in the next few weeks as they face being forced to take unpaid leave from work to mind their children.
It comes after the early years provider, based in Smarden Road, , was suspended by the education watchdog on April 2 after concerns were raised children “may be at risk of harm”. A report, which has since been published, further details the education regulator’s concerns regarding reports the nursery was not meeting requirements in relation to staff and child ratios, training, supporting and understanding children’s needs, as well as record-keeping. The nursery was served a legal notice requiring it take action.
In the regulator’s report, it stated the provider had “failed to notify of a change of manager” which is a potential offence as it’s a legal requirement by Ofsted. Some 12 actions were given for the nursery to complete by Monday (April 14) which included implementing a suitable safeguarding policy, ensuring staff to child ratios were met and ensuring staff have the appropriate training. One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told KentOnline of her “shock” after receiving a phone call about the closure shortly before going to collect her son.
When she arrived, she says she was given all his things before simply being told “we are closing”. Since then, the parent has applied to the other pre-school in the village but is yet to hear back, and suspects other guardians in a similar situation will have done the same, fuelling further demand for places. She added: “If we can’t find childcare after Easter we have no contingency plan at all.
“Because a whole cohort of children have been left without childcare everyone’s reaching out to everyone in the vicinity. “If we are going to have to look at alternatives outside the village, I don’t how we’ll take the time out of our day, the increase in travel costs. “With great difficulty, we’re having to piecemeal help from family but we have limited childcare from family because they live hours away.
“People are already having to look outside of the village.” The mother-of-two also works in the office two times a week and says juggling this demand against providing childcare is proving difficult. And although the nursery suspension has aligned with her annual leave because of the Easter holidays, she is worried about where her son will go after the break.
She added: “We just didn’t have any idea and I think that this opened a whole can of worms. We were really in shock.” The parent says she had also noticed a sudden change in her son’s behaviour.
“There was definitely a shift in him being happy to not being happy about going at all,” she explained. “It was clear that something changed towards the end.” Now she is searching for alternative provision but she wishes there were some more support and options available for others in her situation.
She is also concerned about getting a refund on the money paid for the days of childcare which did not go ahead because of the closure. Despite her concerns over the running of the facility, the mum-of-two believes the staff were “amazing”. “I really believe they were doing the best they could to keep the children safe,” she added.
“It’s not going to open in six weeks time, I can’t say that factually but given the Ofsted report we all have access to, it’s not going to happen. “They won’t physically be able to turn that around in time and secondly, even if they did. What parent is going to feel comfortable sending their child back?” Unless the other village pre-school can accommodate her son she fears she’ll have to take time off work.
She added: “I don’t have enough annual leave to cover it because I have to use all my annual leave to cover school holidays and even that’s not enough. “The only solution would be for one of us to take unpaid leave which would have a significant financial impact on us and our jobs.” It’s problematic as there is not currently an alternative, she says, as many nurseries in the local area are oversubscribed.
“A lot of trust goes into handing over the care of your children for such a large portion of the week and when you’re having to take what you can get, and you can’t even find somewhere, it’s really distressing,” she added. Other areas of action identified by Ofsted included training a special educational needs coordinator, taking steps to ensure staff and children were not exposed to risk, and devising an emergency evacuation procedure, as well as a system for recording accidents and injuries. At the time of the closure, Nursery manager Audra Uikien, said: “I am very sorry for the upheaval to children and parents having to find alternative childcare arrangements.
“Among the reasons which contributed to suspension of the nursery was a real challenge to recruit qualified and experienced nursery staff, including the management team. “This led to an untenable situation where we struggled to provide high quality service deserved by children in our care. “I would like to express my gratitude towards the parents for their support.
” Kent County Council has been contacted for comment..
