AN "UNHYGIENIC" nursery where babies are "at risk" has been rated inadequate by Ofsted.

Play Away Day Nursery in West End has been given the lowest possible rating in its most recent Ofsted report. 

The Chapel Road nursery had 144 children aged between 0 and five years old at the time of the inspection on November 4. 

Two out of four categories - personal development and leadership and management - were given the 'inadequate' rating. 

However, the other two categories - quality of education and behaviour and attitudes - were rated good. 

READ MORE: Southampton school with 'happy pupils' rated Outstanding by Ofsted

Inspectors found that children's safety and welfare "are not assured", and that babies were being "put at risk". 

The report states that staff do not follow policies with regard to babies' safe sleeping arrangements and meeting children's dietary requirements at mealtimes.

It adds that safeguarding procedures "are not consistently followed by all staff" and that sleeping arrangements for babies do not follow national guidance or company policy, which puts babies "at risk". 

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The report said that babies and children are also at risk as meals are not checked to ensure they are in line with the dietary needs of individual children and that staff "do not consistently" promote good hygiene.

It was also found that older children wash their hands and faces at lunchtime and then use the same cloths to wipe the tables and then wipe their faces again. 

Inspectors also noted that older youngsters are not always encouraged to wash their hands before snack time or reminded to put their hands over their mouths when they cough or sneeze.

Other points raised were that sometimes, older babies have to sit still for long periods of time, making them restless and that staff induction is "not comprehensive".

Despite this, the inspectors noted that the children arrive "happy" and behave well. 

They found that communication and language are a focus for the nursery, adding that older children have a lending library, which includes a range of books supporting different languages.

Staff value the importance of sharing ideas with parents to further support children's learning at home, the report says. 

A spokeswoman for Play Away said: “We take the inspection report extremely seriously. An action plan has been implemented to make the necessary improvements and we are confident this will have a positive impact."

She added: "Our team is highly focused on continuous improvement with a strong desire to better our overall rating as quickly as possible.”

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