Bosses at a nursery have voiced their frustration after they were given a 'requires improvement' rating by Ofsted.
The rating is two levels down from the 'outstanding' rating it previously received. The four Ofsted grades are outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
Children 1st is a family run group of nurseries, and the branch on Muskham Road in Newark is for 0-4-year-olds, provides full day care and currently has 98 children on its roll.
The nursery was inspected in the morning of December 9 last year and inspectors turned up unannounced at around 8am after what the nursey describes as a "malicious complaint" which they say has since been dismissed.
Commercial director Cath Cammack told Nottinghamshire Live: "Our frustration is in the context of how the visit was conducted, especially as it was at a time when we had illness and isolation, and used agency staff.
"The report pinpoints that a couple of people in the building were immediately hot spotted to what an individual child's learning journey needed, and they did not know that off the cuff.
"They'd come in to support and the first and foremost priority is care needs.
"It's not an excuse, it's a point of fact - we're not disagreeing with the inspector at all, it's just a snapshot in time that was taken.
"This is an inspirational setting, and there has been a lot of investment, and we stand firmly behind this setting.
"We will continue to offer amazing care, and I want to reassure parents that this is still an exceptional nursery."
The rating was split, with behaviour and attitudes, and personal development both rated as 'good', but quality of education, and leadership and management were rated 'requires improvement', which is the side its overall effectiveness fell on.
The Ofsted report states: "Staff working with babies and toddlers are not clear about what they want their key children to learn.
"Staff do not build on what children know and can do and children's learning is not always promoted effectively.
"Children's next steps in learning are not effectively shared with parents to enable them to extend children's learning at home.
"The provider should improve the induction arrangements to ensure that staff that are new to the setting understand their roles and responsibilities within the setting's policies and procedures."
On website DayNurseries.co.uk, the nursery has received 70 reviews, with 64 rating it as 'excellent' and six as 'good'.
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