A nursery has been forced to close for at least six weeks after a pupil died following a ‘sudden and very unexpected medical need.’
Jelly Beans Day Nursery in Ashford, Kent, was shut down following the incident last Thursday, with education watchdog Ofsted citing ‘safeguarding concerns’.
Nursery bosses wrote to inform parents about the tragic occurrence.
The email said at present, the cause of the medical emergency is unknown but that staff were ‘directly involved in assisting’ in the child’s medical care.
Ofsted suspended the nursery’s registration, expected to last up to six weeks, and parents have been forced to place their child in alternative care spaces.
Nursery manager Debbie Alcock wrote in an email to parents: ‘You will be aware that last week on Thursday we needed to ask for emergency services to attend the nursery due to a sudden and very unexpected medical need.
‘At present we do not know the cause.
Jelly Beans Day Nursery (pictured) in Ashford, Kent, was shut down following the incident last Thursday, with education watchdog Ofsted citing ‘safeguarding concerns’
‘Myself and some of my staff were directly involved in assisting and due to the need for the parents’ privacy and respect we still cannot give you any further information and in fact we have not been updated ourselves.
‘Ofsted have made a decision to suspend our registration.
‘This means that we cannot care for any child while the suspension is in place.’
An Ofsted spokesman said: ‘We have suspended the nursery’s registration due to serious safeguarding concerns. It will remain closed while investigations continue.’
In 2016 the nursery, then run by Ranc Care, came in for scathing criticism from Ofsted after an inspection found a toddler had been given an overdose of prescription medication.
As a result, its Ofsted rating was downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘inadequate’.
A later inspection in 2018 restored its ‘good’ rating.
RCH Care Homes, headquartered in Essex, has yet to comment on the closure.
Ms Alcock declined to comment.
Source: Daily Mail
