A nursery has been rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted after inspectors found young children had been exposed to 'stagnant slime'.
Inspectors visited Acorn nursery in Northwich, Cheshire, after receiving reports that a child had sustained an unexplained injury.
Carter Millbanks-Lewis, who was 18 months at the time, fractured his skull in November last year. His mum claims she noticed a lump on his head after he spent the day at the nursery.
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Tanya Jagger previously spoke of her anguish, after she was wrongly suspected of assaulting her son, and prevented from spending time with him unsupervised.
After an extensive police investigation, Cheshire Police said they were 'unable to establish where or when the injury was sustained.' The force said they could find no evidence that an assault had taken place and no further action was taken.
Following the incident, the M.E.N understands that Ofsted conducted an unannounced inspection at the nursery on February 16.
The nursery was rated inadequate for the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. The rating was not a direct result of Carter's unexplained injury, but the practices they found when the setting was inspected.
In the report, inspectors said: "Staff do not follow health and safety procedures rigorously enough. For example, the provider's policy is that when children bump their head, the injury is monitored and parents are contacted.
"However, there are occasions when staff do not follow the procedure. Some staff do not know the action they must take if they have concerns about a colleague's behaviour or practice.
"Managers do not notice and remedy gaps in procedures and staff's knowledge. Children's welfare is compromised."
Responding to these findings, a spokesperson for Acorn said: "The police have concluded their investigation saying there is no evidence to say that the child injury happened at the nursery.
"The inspector said that when we were filling in the accident forms, there was no written evidence that we had contacted the parents and the times we monitored the child.
"With regard to staff not knowing the procedure if they had concerns about a colleague's behaviour - the inspector said she had asked one member of staff, who took longer to answer the question, the member of staff went through the whole process that would follow, hence the remark in the report."
Ms Jagger picked her son up from the nursery, off Green Bank Lane, on November 17 last year, when she claims she noticed her son had been crying uncontrollably, and had a puffy face.
Tanya didn't realise anything was wrong, as although he had been visibly upset, there was no sign or mention of any injury, she claims. It was only when she put her son in the bath later that afternoon and went to wash his hair that she claims she noticed a large soft lump on his head.
She took him to the hospital where she was told Carter had suffered a fractured skull, and was subsequently interviewed by safeguarding nurses, who asked how the injury had happened.
"They were demanding to know what had happened and I didn't know, I was just in shock," she previously told the M.E.N.
Children’s Services at Cheshire West Council were subsequently called, and implemented a Child Protection Plan. This meant that Tanya, along with Carter’s father and grandparents were all required to be supervised when looking after him.
"We had to move out of our house because I live in Northwich but all my family is in Manchester and we had to be supervised," Tanya said.
"We were told we were being taken to court. They were threatening to take my son away from me for something I hadn’t done."
Tanya reported the incident to Cheshire Police, who carried out an investigation. After ‘extensive enquiries’ which involved speaking to the family, nursery staff and medical experts, the force said they could find no evidence to support an assault taking place and no further action was taken.
Following a meeting on January 17 - two months on from the incident - Cheshire Children’s Services agreed that Carter no longer needed to be subject to a Child Protection Plan.
It's understood Ofsted were notified of Carter's injury by both his mother, and the nursery provider. Following their visit, inspectors also found that risk assessments at the setting are 'not effective.'
"Staff complete daily checklists to show that the areas where children play have been checked and are safe," they said. "Nevertheless, they fail to identify significant hazards to children's safety.
"For example, an outdoor water tray used by babies and toddlers is dirty. Staff do not realise that the stagnant slime puts children at risk of water-borne infection."
Nursery bosses were issued with a 'Welfare Requirements Notice' by the inspector, and will be required to carry out a range of improvements.
In a previous statement, a spokesperson for Acorn nursery said: "A child did attend the nursery on 17th November who was found to have a serious head injury by his parents later in the evening after they went home.
"Whenever an incident like this occurs a full investigation takes place involving the Cheshire West and Chester Safeguarding team, Cheshire Police, the nursery setting and the parents.
"The nursery has cooperated fully with the investigation and Cheshire Police have now informed us that they have concluded their investigation and no further action is required."
A spokesperson for Cheshire West Council said: "Following completion of Ofsted’s inspection, the Council will continue to support the setting in improving outcomes for children and families."
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