A BASINGSTOKE nursery has been told to improve its hygiene after a complaint was made to Ofsted and children were found to be sharing food.

The education watchdog visited Little Monkeys Daycare, in Watson Way, Winklebury, on Tuesday, August 15 for an inspection after it received a complaint about the provider in June.

The nursery, which has 81 children on its roll and is run by Monkeymoos Daycare Ltd, was graded as ‘requires improvement’ following the inspection.

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It has been asked to take action to ensure the requirements of health and safety legislation, including hygiene, are met, to prevent the spread of infection.

Ofsted asked Monkeys Daycare to ensure the premises and equipment are organised to ensure all risks and hazards to children’s safety are identified, removed or minimised, after it was found to be compromising children’s health and well-being.

The Ofsted inspector who visited the nursery graded it as ‘requires improvement’ in all areas.

It was previously graded as ‘good’ following an inspection in January this year.

The inspector found that staff did not understand how to promote children’s good health.

During the visit, children were taking part in an activity exploring real food and were encouraged to bite and eat fruit and vegetables before putting them back for other children to explore.

“This does not support children’s good learning and does not help to prevent the spread of infection,” the report said.

Staff were also seen carrying out children’s plated food and communal self-serving bowls stacked on top of each other.

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The report said: “This is not hygienic and compromises children’s health and wellbeing.”

However, the inspector found that the leadership team “demonstrate a commitment to drive improvements”.

The report said: “They have a clear vision about what they want children to achieve and learn.”

It added: “Despite the weaknesses, children are generally happy and settled and show that they feel safe in the care of staff. Children move around their room with confidence and make decisions about what to do.”

Ofsted found safeguarding arrangements were effective.

The quality of teaching was found to be “variable”, with some staff said to “struggle to effectively deliver the teaching aims and intent of activities to a consistently good level”.

The report said children behave well and have formed good friendships.

It added: “All children have daily opportunities to play outside, and they enjoy adventures in and around the local community. The garden is used well to support children's physical skills.”

Ofsted served Little Monkeys Daycare with a ‘welfare requirement notice’, which is a legal notice that requires the provider to take actions within a set timescale.

Ofsted asked the daycare to review its hygiene routines to prevent the spread of infection and improve the arrangements for developing staff’s skills and knowledge to raise the quality of education.

It also asked the nursery to implement appropriate and consistent behaviour strategies for all children to ensure children’s behaviour is managed appropriately and to “help children understand the consequences of their actions on others”.

Monkeymoos Daycare Ltd has been asked for a comment.