INSPECTORS have described the care at a Leigh pre-school as being inadequate after it failed to notify Ofsted of an unexplained injury to a child within two weeks.

A report into Leigh Road Baptist Church Pre-School in Marguerite Drive published last week has rated it as inadequate.

Inspector Claire Parnell said in the report that the centre was not following all required procedures to protect children from harm.

A complaint was made against the pre-school in October for failing to notify the inspectorate about an unexplained injury to a child within 14 days.

Investigations led to the pre-school being cleared of having anything to do with the injury. But Ms Parnell’s report this week criticised them over the administrative procedure.

She said: “Agencies that have statutory duty to protect children from harm are not kept informed of concerns relating to children in the setting’s care. Therefore children are not protected from harm.”

The report does say that staff do have the right training and knowledge to keep children out of danger. But it added: “The setting has failed to inform Ofsted of a significant event within the given timescale, therefore, children’s safety is not appropriately promoted. This is an offence and a breach of requirement.”

The pre-school was also criticised over its teaching strategies not offering enough for more able children to do, and for not monitoring their development enough. But it was praised for children’s understanding of numbers, communication and physical skills being enhanced through effective teaching, both indoors and outdoors.

A spokesman for the pre-school said: “We at Leigh Road Baptist Church Pre School have always taken the safety and development of all the children in our care extremely seriously.

“We are grateful for the Ofsted inspection report as we welcome any feedback that highlights areas of our provision that can be improved.

“We want to assure everyone, particularly parents, that we have already taken steps to ensure our policies and practices are robust and comprehensive.”