BOSSES at a Felixstowe nursery have today reassured parents that their children are in safe hands in the wake of a scathing Ofsted report.

Inspectors discovered one member of staff at Play Pit Nursery in Brownlow Road, Felixstowe, did not have the appropriate criminal checks to be working with the children, when they visited in December.

Concerns were also raised about practitioners not having a clear enough understanding of safeguarding procedures, as the facility was given the lowest possible rating of inadequate.

The report said: “Recruitment procedures are not adhered to or monitored effectively. As a result there are occasions when adults whose suitability has not yet been checked are left unsupervised with children.”

A nursery spokeswoman said the staff member without an appropriate criminal check was CRB checked however when they moved to the nursery, they required a new one.

All members of staff at the Play Pit are now fully up-to-date with criminal record checks.

The spokeswoman added: “Although the Ofsted inspection is a very thorough and rigorous inspection of a nursery, the report that is eventually published can only give a snapshot, as the inspectors have to write the report within a set word count.

“The verbal feedback is much more detailed and much more helpful, to the nursery, and we are already working on the points for development.

“At the end of the inspection a single observation was made that was due to a problem with a non transferable CRB check.

“We have been working since then to ensure that we, and all our staff, are fully implementing all our policies and procedures.”

Inspectors did also praise the work of the nursery particularly with the work it does to meet the needs of the Early Years Foundation Stage, which was rated as good.

Other positives from the report included building up children’s self esteem and confidence, while improvements to the nursery was also praised.

Nursery staff are now confident they will make the improvements necessary to turn around their fortunes at the next inspection.

The nursery spokeswoman said: “Our inspection went very well with many areas receiving high praise and we are confident on Ofsted’s next visit that we will receive a good rating.”

Play Pit Day Nursery will be visited by inspectors again within the next year to determine whether or not improvements have been made.