Should i report Nursery to OFSTED?

[Totallyfloaty35]

Last week DD (just turned 2yrs was due to start settling in at Nursery,When i got there they took her in the garden while i filled in forms in another room,a staff member was just leaving. As i filled in the forms i got up every now and then to peek at her and was a bit alarmed that there were only 2 members of staff,one of whom was standing next to the big slide and concentrating solely on the kids on it.The other staff member then came inside so only 1 left outside with 16kids( i counted 19 but they insist only 16)anyway noticed dd had been in the playhouse for ages,no one taking any notice of her,she kept coming to playhouse window and looking out,so i followed a staff member out and dd shouted mummy i stuck,she coulldnt get out of it until the staff member pulled the door open.
There were lots of children charging around and no one taking anynotice of my dd,she didnt know what to do with herself,she hadnt met a keyworker and so i followed her to the little slide.Then i noticed a little boy of about 2 flip straight over the top of little tikes climbing frame,i tried to catch him but didnt make it,he landed on his head from a fall of about 4 an half feet,quite high when your small.But no staff noticed,i had to shout for attention,the boy had started screaming and retching at this point.I was so shocked,they just tutted and said oh dear did you have a little bump!
I couldnt wait to get away,i told the manager they didnt have enough staff and she said 4 were there,but if the kids are in the garden surely the adults should be to,when the little boy fell only 2 were out there.Am i just over reacting?

Alas the regulations are not very clear and in 2004 I was temping at a nursery and had reason to call a senior Ofsted Inspection team manager due to my concerns over safety at that nursery. That team manager told me that staff ratios were done as a nursery as a whole, not in terms of age groups. This may now have changed with EYFS, but I'm not sure it has.

It is worth telling Ofsted of your concerns, even if they don't do anything it should go on file.

I know,i mean if they can count the adults in the building(which im sure you cant)then they could count the staff in the baby unit and office and claim they had 12 staff,not 1 watching a slide and another going in and out washing tables.

hey just read your post. that is just wrong . that child could have seriously hurt themselves - and it sounds as if they didn't even take a good look at him. i would have run and keep running at that one. I think that if the nursery didn't understand your concerns you should raise it with ofsted.

with the new "free flow" it is the staff on the whole premises that you count, unless the ground floor of the premises is huge. TBH at our pre-school we legally need 3 staff to 24 children but we have 4 staff plus students otherwise they would struggle to keywork the children and maintain their safety.

I think its awful to be able to count staff as a whole,in that way they could all sit in the staffroom and let the kids get on with it and say they had the correct cover.Am going to contact ofsted and double check the rules.
Have put dd with another nursery and when i was there the owner was constantly counting kids so her ratios were correct,im praying this one is better,they have rave reviews from all the parents i spoke with but then so did the otherIts so hard to know what goes on when your not around.But thankyou for your comments everyone,its been helpful.

This free flow thing is new and relies a lot on the staff being sensible and getting extra staff say out in the garden if they feel there are too many children to be kept safe etc

I wonder what went in the accident book? When you make your complaint to OFSTED, and you should, give the details of the accident including time etc., they should check the entry. If this does not concur with your own story that should set alarm bells for them. Unfortunately OFSTED is not the org it could or should be. I've been in children's services for years and have been far from impressed by their inspections (I managed out of school care). In addition I worked in early years and the team had great concerns about a pre school and out of school club and OFSTED did nothing about it. You don't say what ages the children are but this would make a difference to the ratio. I suspect you won't be using that nursery! Are you looking for others? Can give you lots of tips of what to look for if you want - see you over the other board!

Always said it was people who never worked with children who decided the ratios!

hi hell fire,you can pm me on netmums if u like. Kids were mainly 2-4yrs with about 8 5yr olds that had been picked up from school,they said they had the required 4 staff so guess they must have needed them for the 16 they said they were looking after but i definately counted 19