Children at a Thornton Heath Nursey, were drinking from mouldy cups, an inspector found.

Little Treasures Nursery, which opened in 2005, was given an “inadequate” rating by Ofsted.

The report comes after a recent inspection in March 2017 where the school was found to be ineffective in ‘leadership and management’ and ‘personal development, behaviour and welfare.’

The nursery which has 33 children from the ages of zero to seven, failed to do anything about a broken fence, and had an outdoor area that is not secure.

There was also safe-guarding concerns and a lack of stimulation for the younger children.

A statement from school said: “We have already implemented an action plan which takes into account the recommendations of the inspector.

Each inspector has varying opinions on how we have used the space available but we are a small setting and try to make the best use of space, while still ensuring children have access to a variety of stimulating activities.

We risk assess thoroughly everyday to ensure all children are safe and the baby room has been reorganised to allow more floor space for our younger children.”

The school added: “ The only cup the inspector found with mould was brought in from a child's home. We have now made changes to our policy to not allow cups from home which will ensure that only sterilised nursery cups are used in future.

As for the fence, we had called maintenance to mend the small gap in the fence and we have taken photo records of the gap for the purpose of informing parents and Ofsted.

Unfortunately we were misinformed by Croydon’s recommended first-aid provider regarding the duration of validity for some of our existing first aid certificates.

We have arranged for full first aid training to take place for all staff this week which will now be valid for three years rather than one. We hope to prove to Ofsted that this is a good nursery as our previous inspection report had shown.”

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