A BRIERCLIFFE nursery has been given a warning notice after it was rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted for the second time this year.

Jack and Jill Pre-School, based at Jubilee Street Community Centre, has been handed a Welfare Requirements Notice by the education watchdog calling on its staff to improve safeguarding procedures.

Inspectors had been monitoring the school since it was rated inadequate in January and failed to find sufficient improvements during a follow-up inspection in June.

In her recently published report, inspector Linda Shore praised the nursery’s staff for being ‘generally good role models’ and noted they did well in encouraging children to play outdoors and exercise.

But other aspects of provision were slammed, including poor monitoring of staff performance by boss Kathryn Leeming.

The report said: “Following the last inspection, at which the pre-school was judged to be inadequate, a monitoring visit was conducted. This was to ensure the pre-school had taken appropriate steps to address the actions raised.

“At the visit, the inspector found that prompt and effective action had been taken towards addressing the actions raised.

“However, this rate of improvement has not been sustained and significant weaknesses are still evident.

“The manager has sought support and advice from the local children's centre teacher, and a new system for observation, assessment and planning for children's progress has been introduced.”

After January’s inadequate inspection, nursery leader Debbie Macken said the judgement was ‘unfair’ and said all staff were ‘working hard to improve’.

The report added: “The manager has introduced team meetings, giving staff the opportunity to share their practice, and the manager has received some training from the children's centre teacher.

“However, this has not been cascaded effectively to support other staff that need it.

“This means that the support for staff or monitoring by management, to ensure that staff meet expected standards, is weak.”

Nobody from the nursery could be contacted for a comment.