THE manager of a Wellington pre-school says it is reviewing and improving its policies and procedures for the new school term after what she says was the ‘disappointing’ verdict of an Ofsted inspection.

Wellington Community Playgroup Pre-school, based at the youth centre in Mantle Street, was rated as ‘requires improvement’ in its latest inspection in June, as it was in its previous inspection in November 2016.

The pre-school was rated ‘good’ for quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare; and outcomes for children. It was rated ‘requires improvement’ for effectiveness of leadership and management.

Ofsted inspector Elaine Douglas in a report out last month said: “Although there are clear recruitment and vetting processes, the management committee is not thorough in ensuring it keeps records of staff’s suitability to work with children. This is a breach of requirement."

Pre-school manager Carole Taylor said the main area for improvement from the November inspection was clear recruitment and vetting processes. She said the new committee had processed all the relevant checks as required but due to outside administration errors some checks had still not been returned so that committee members can complete their forms with Ofsted.

She added: “Obviously we were all very disappointed with our result but unfortunately the main improvement was out of our control. All our staff are long-term members, working with the setting for ten years plus. Unfortunately some of their personnel files have not been updated alongside new policies, which is now/if not already being addressed.

“We are currently reviewing all our policies and procedures, which Ofsted was made aware of, and these will be in place for our new September term. As an Early Years provision, we always take on board any improvement to be made to ensure we provide a high-quality care for children and their families.”

For more information about the setting or the latest inspection report contact the pre-school by email at [email protected]

For the full story see this week’s Wellington Weekly News.