A CHILD at Haydon Meadow Pre School reported as missing by Ofsted had only wandered as far as the corridor, according to manager Debbie Waldron.

In a report from the education watchdog, which declares the Haydon Centre organisation ‘inadequate’, there are a series of incorrect statements, according to the pre-school.

The May 2 inspection was triggered after a notification from the early years provider which revealed a child had left the pre-school unsupervised on April 29 and gone missing for a short period of time.

In her report, which is the subject of an appeal from Ms Waldron, Melissa Cox said: “This raised concerns relating to child supervision, staff deployment, safety and risk assessment.

“At the inspection, it was found that the provider had acted appropriately by informing parents and Ofsted of this event.

“However, it was also noted that the risk assessment had not been sufficiently reviewed after the incident and so prompt action has not been taken to prevent this happening again.

“As a result, the door to the sessional classroom remains unsecured and is not being sufficiently monitored to ensure children are secure.

“This means that visitors to the complex can freely access the classroom and children can leave the room unsupervised.

“In addition, because staff are sometimes deployed elsewhere in the room or in the outdoor area, children are often not in their line of sight and/or hearing to ensure they are supervised appropriately.”

Parents, as well as the education watchdog, were immediately informed of the incident. The boy in question remains a pupil at the pre-school, with the full backing of his parents, according to Ms Waldron.

She said the incident took place first thing in the morning, when the classroom door was open and allowing children in for the day.

The boy had been helping the door monitor allow pupils in, when she lost sight of him and he wandered into the corridor.

That door monitor no longer works at the pre-school.

In a letter to parents responding to the damning Ofsted report, Ms Waldron and co-manager Chris Webb said: “The door of the room, when closed, was identified to be secure and safe, which agrees with previous Ofsted inspections, particularly one that was carried out on a group last year, who use the same premises and care for Early Years children.

“No child has ever (in over 20 years) opened the door independently. This door is weighted making it difficult for a child to pull open from inside the pre-school.”

Another section of the Ofsted report states the provider failed to notify the watchdog that a number of children had been treated for a notifiable disease.

The managers said two cases of scarlet fever had been confirmed. They told the local health authority of the cases and were only instructed to notify Ofsted if it became an epidemic, with 12 or more cases.

Parents were updated at every turn, it said.

“I want the truth to be told,” said Ms Waldron. “The child got into the corridor and we informed Ofsted.

“She (the inspector) obviously hasn’t listened to us as to what did happen.”