Kids Seen Eating, Touching Each Other's Poop At 'Catastrophic' Nursery

Young children were seen eating and touching each other's poop at a now-closed nursery in Manchester, England, which was slammed in a new report over the "catastrophic failings" of its management.

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) carried out an inspection of the now-closed Kidspiration nursery on Gorton Lane, Gorton, on Dec. 9, 2022, Manchester Evening News reported.

In a recently published report showing the results of the inspection, the Ofsted said that the children, who ranged in age up to 3, were put "in significant danger" and that the nursey had "incredibly poor" care practices.

The Ofsted inspector who conducted the assessment had to step in "to maintain children's health and safety" during the visit, according to the report.

"When some staff change children's nappies, they fail to notice that feces have leaked onto surfaces that children have access to," the report alleged. "This results in younger children putting feces into their mouths."

The Ofsted inspector had to physically alert staff at the nursery after seeing children putting pebbles as well as sharp, broken pieces of ice into their mouths. The inspector was also forced to stand at the top of a flight of stairs to help the children avoid falling over the banister, the report said.

Babies were allegedly "left alone for prolonged periods with no interaction from staff," the report said.

"They sit quietly, look on into the distance and are not given the quality learning experiences that they should," the report added. "Catastrophic failings from leaders mean that children are not provided with adequate care and learning. Staff do not supervise children well. Although children are content to leave their parents and happily greet staff, many of them wander around the rooms, bored and seeking stimulation."

The report stated that the risk assessments were "poor" as the inspector had to help keep the children safe on several occasions. In all five categories assessed, the nursery was rated "inadequate," The Sun reported.

The activities for children at the nursery, which employed six members of staff and was first registered in 2021, were rated as "mundane."

"Pre-school children show poor attitudes towards their learning," the report went on. "Staff teach children about winter animals with no clear intent as to why they are doing this. They do not address misconceptions in learning, and on the rare occasion when children do find something interesting, staff stop this and inform children that they are being 'silly.'"

According to the report, the nursery's leaders failed to be legally compliant with the requirements of their registration.

"Low expectations and an incredibly poorly designed curriculum leave children without the quality education that they rightly deserve. Gaps in learning do not close and children do not make the progress that they are capable of," the Ofsted report stated.

Children reportedly roamed around without purpose, which was the result of "poor" staff deployment and child supervision.

"Staff do not notice when there are other children's feces on the floor and within a low-level chair. Younger children touch the feces and put it into their mouths. This places children at a significant risk and highlights the serious weaknesses in the leadership of the setting," the report said.

Manchester Evening News said the nursery was shut when it went there for comment on Ofsted's findings.