Cheeky Monkeys Day Nursery in Newark rated inadequate by Ofsted

A day nursery has been graded as inadequate in an Ofsted report with safeguarding and leadership among the concerns raised.

Cheeky Monkeys Day Nursery on Whitfield Street, Newark, opened in 2014 and provides funded early education for two, three and four-year-olds.

An Ofsted report published following an inspection in October revealed that the nursery was inadequate across all areas.

The quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management were all assessed.

The report said safeguarding arrangements were not effective and that children were not fully protected from hazards at the nursery.

The management team does not ensure that the premises are thoroughly risk assessed or ensure that staff complete daily checks, inside and outside, where children play, according to the inspection team.

In these areas children are exposed to hazards such as nails sticking out of low-level furniture, and staff who work with babies offer them dried pasta, which is a potential choke hazard.

Staff working with older children do not check toys for hazards beforehand.

A sensory activity uses unsuitable shaving foam for children and outside, tricycles with extremely wobbly wheels and no protective pedal covers are used by children.

The report also notes that a mud kitchen area has rusty containers and nails sticking out of a broken table.

However, the inspectors said staff did have a secure understanding of the safeguarding practice and completed regular child protection training.

The report said leaders and managers did not deliver an ambitious curriculum and did not help staff to understand how to build on what children already knew and could do.

Activities were not always accurately assessed to ensure they are age appropriate and as such staff have inappropriate expectations of what they want children to learn.

The quality of teaching is inconsistent across the nursery.

But they highlighted staff working with babies spontaneously singing about farm animals and make sounds the animals make, as babies hold toy pigs and cows. This helps to support their communication and language development.

The report also highlighted some positives for the nursery, saying that overall, children behave well and any minor disputes are managed appropriately by staff to help children settle quickly back into their play.

When staff do interact with children, they are happy and enjoy their time with the adults.

In general, parents speak positively about the service they receive. They comment how information is shared with them by staff during drop off and pick up times.

Cheeky Monkeys Day Nursery have been approached for comment.