A THURROCK pre-school is considering legal action over an Ofsted report which says “children's safety and well-being are compromised”.

Julie Carter, the owner of Scalliwags Pre-School in South Ockendon, made the threat against the Government watchdog, which judged the pre-school “inadequate” and handed her a notice to improve.

The report says the pre-school, which cares for 36 children, isn’t meeting a number of specific legal requirements for the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Mrs Carter said the report has “shattered” her confidence in Ofsted.

The report lists areas for action which must be taken so the pre-school starts meeting the framework’s requirements.

Among these are to “keep records that demonstrate to Ofsted that adults having unsupervised access to children are suitable to do so”.

It must also maintain an accurate record of the children’s hours of attendance and the names of their key workers.

The report said: “Children are not adequately safeguarded because procedures and record keeping are insufficiently rigorous.

“All staff are routinely checked to ensure that they are suitable to work with young children, but confirmation of such checks for all staff was not available at the time of the inspection.

“The designated safeguarding officer has attended relevant child protection training and she has a sound knowledge of child protection issues and procedures to protect children from possible harm.

“However, the safeguarding policy and procedures do not include procedures to be followed in the event of an allegation being made against a staff member.”

It added: “Children's safety is further compromised because parents have not given their written permission to staff for seeking emergency medical advice, although they have provided written permission for treatment to be given.”

An angry Mrs Carter replied: “My team and I are very disappointed in the Ofsted inspection report and we are also very angry.

"We are considering seeking legal advice and we will certainly be contesting the report.

“Many of the areas highlighted were reported inaccurately and we are working closely with our colleagues at Thurrock Council to identify these errors and provide evidence against the ruling.”

She added: "The playschool has a long history of community service in the borough and our staff, parents and pupils would completely disagree with the findings.

"We have never had a report like this in all our years of opening and it is very upsetting.

“My faith in Ofsted and what benefit they bring is completely shattered and I will not rest until this has been rectified."

Thurrock Council said the report was “not expected” and a special team will now be drafted in to offer “intensive support”.