• Note: the University of West Cambridge Day Nursery has been run by Childbase Partnership since 2009. Childbase Partnership has two day nurseries on the site which have never been subject to failing Ofsted reports.

The University Nursery at West Cambridge has failed its 2007 Ofsted inspection, according to a damning report released this week.

The nursery, which provides childcare for approximately 100 student parents at Cambridge University, was judged to be inadequate in all five areas in which it was examined on October 19. This resulted in a complete failure of the inspection and a notice stating that the nursery does not meet the National Standards for Under Eights Day Care and Childminding.

The report detailed how only 15 out of the 26 staff hold appropriate qualifications in Early Years Practice. It claimed that they “fail to consistently follow suitable hygiene procedures”, so that “young babies are being put at a high risk of c ross-infection”.

Children are also “not always provided with food which is suitable for their needs”, and are expected to eat long lengths of spaghetti with a teaspoon so that “as they are unable to chew the food some children end up regurgitating it”.

Furthermore, the report highlighted inefficient storage of milk, which as a result became unsafe for consumption before being
distributed to children. Ofsted inspector Heidi Falconer stated that “children’s safety is signifi cantly compromised”, despite
carers commanding a suitable understanding of child protection procedures and creating a child centred environment. “In
addition to providing children with food which has not been prepared appropriately, staff consistently block designated fire exits with play tents and book cases,” she said.

Concerning the education provided for nursery age children, the report said that “children do not make good progress in all areas of learning” due to the “lack of knowledge” of those working with them about the ways in which children learn. As a result, they are given “too few opportunities to acquire new knowledge and skills”. Staff apparently do not engage the children in conversation during activities, so that they are often “expected to sit without purposeful activity for extended periods of time”.

Falconer expressed concern about “negative impact on children’s self esteem and confidence” caused by the fact that their “individual needs are not sufficiently being met”, describing a situation in which there is limited scope for children to form close relationships with staff.

The university subcontracts nursery provision to a company called Bright Horizons Family Solutions, which has been blamed for
the oversights brought to light by the report. A spokeswoman from the company said: “Whilst we are proud of Ofsted’s recognition of parts of the programme at the nursery, we are very disappointed about others, and we consider the overall findings to fall short of our expectations for excellence in our nurseries. We are bringing all resources to bear to make important improvements at the nursery.”

A student parent living in a flat above the nursery in West Cambridge told Varsity that, even before the publication of this report, she refused to enroll her child there. “They had babies who just seemed to cry all the time, as if they weren’t picked up all day.”

The University has stated that it is “deeply concerned by the findings of the Ofsted report, but reassured that Bright Horizons
have vowed to take swift action which will be closely monitored. They have “insisted that the nursery quickly reaches the standard of excellence that parents and we expect”.
Emma Inkestar