Ofsted checks after TV film

UNDERCOVER BBC footage from inside a Radcliffe private nursery promised to reveal the shortfalls in the provision by the centre.

But it was difficult to understand why the BBC actually decided to use these few minutes of shots at Bank House Nursery to reinforce their documentary Nurseries Undercover: The Real Story, aired on Thursday of last week.

The nurseries investigated -- in Radcliffe, Stoke and Middlesex -- had all been previously approved by Ofsted inspectors.

And now Ofsted, the body responsible for guaranteeing nursery standards, has launched investigations into all the nurseries that were secretly filmed.

At the 18-year-old Radcliffe nursery, the BBC found that minimum staff-child ratios were not always observed.

And mum Mrs Caroline Mullineaux, of Dean Street, Radcliffe, immediately withdrew her son Lucas from the Blackburn Street nursery after watching footage of him being shouted at by a member of staff.

Another parent, Anna Berry, of Olsberg Close, Radcliffe, said she was upset after watching children, including her daughter Kaitlin O'Donnell being shouted at "for crying" and being "left to fend for themselves".

But a letter on behalf of 36 parents -- who say they fully support the nursery -- was given to the Radcliffe Times last week. It said that the parents found the staff very friendly and the nursery exceptional in its understanding of the needs of every child.

The other nurseries shown in the documentary at Little Treasures, in Stoke-on-Trent, and Petits Enfants, in Teddington, Middlesex did not fare as well in the film.

Parents around the country would have recoiled in horror to see someone paid to look after their child calling them an "imbecile" or a "minger".

Or the sight of brimming potties and the lack of basic hygiene during the nappy-changing run.

The BBC reporter collected film of one nursery nurse asleep at Petits Enfants when meant to be in charge of a group of sleeping children.

Prior to the documentary being aired, Bury's director of social services, health and housing Eleni Ioannides said that the department was left wondering whether the BBC was trying to justify the time and effort by running the story anyway.

Since the show has been shown by the BBC, she said she was "underwhelmed" after seeing the programme. "Our concern is child protection, but there was nothing about the Radcliffe nursery to worry us on that aspect and we are not planning any action as a result of it," she said.

"There were minor questions to answer but nothing to suggest anything like a major expos."

She said the BBC had behaved badly in not co-operating with the local authority, or showing it any evidence, during the course of its six-month investigation.

Miss Jenny Rivers, co-owner of Bank House said: "We are now dealing with solicitors who we are hoping will take the issue up with the BBC. We feel we have been tarnished with the same brush."