Nursery in Bedford given welfare notice after unsupervised boy found near busy road

A Bedford nursery was served with a welfare notice after a young child was found by a busy main road unsupervised.

As Ofsted report states the child had left the Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery premises, in Shakespeare Road, undetected on August 30.

A witness said she saw a boy running out of the nursery car park and stopped him crossing "an extremely busy road" near Sainsbury’s.

She logged the incident with Bedfordshire Police and Ofsted.

The report said the "child was able to leave the premises unsupervised" and that they had been informed of the incident by the nursery and via a complaint.

The report stated: “On 30 and 31 August and 2 September 2022, we carried out a number of regulatory telephone discussions and looked at a range of evidence relating to the incident.”

The inspectors told the nursery it had to ensure staff were deployed effectively to support children's safety and that staff understood their role in assessing and minimising risks, particularly when supervising children. The preschool was required to take action before September 16.

After a visit on September 21, Ofsted said all doors and gates at the nursery had been fitted with "mechanisms that were suitable to prevent children from exiting the premises".

The company had also reviewed its risk assessment and policies and "staff deployed themselves to help ensure children were adequately supervised", Ofsted added.

"We are satisfied the provider has met the safeguarding and welfare actions raised," it said.

Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery, which was praised by Ofsted in a glowing report earlier this year, has been approached for comment.