‘Significant safeguarding risks’ at out-of-hours service, says Ofsted

THE WELLBEING of children was “compromised” at an out-ofschool service in Yorkshire, according to an Ofsted inspector.

A report by the schools watchdog has deemed The Fun Zone at Rothwell Primary School as ‘inadequate’ after a previous ‘good’ rating in 2015. After a visit on May 10, Inspector Laura Hoyland found there were “significant safeguarding risks to children”.

She added: “The safeguarding lead practitioner has not attended child protection training and does not have good enough knowledge of how to recognise the signs and symptoms of possible abuse. In addition, she does not ensure staff have knowledge and understanding of who to report safeguarding concerns to.

“A robust recruitment procedure is not in place and recruitment records are not available for inspection. The provider does not ensure that there is a qualified paediatric first-aid member of staff on the premises at times when children are present.”

A spokesperson for the service said it was disappointed given it has more than 10 years of experience of running out-of-school childcare and previous Ofsted reports had indicated it was good.

The spokesperson added: “Since the report we have addressed the two main areas of concern and all staff and the manager have attended a safeguarding training course provided by the local authority to update their knowledge to incorporate the new best practice.”

Paediatric first aid has since been renewed, the spokesperson said.