A three-year-old boy has allegedly been left needing hospital treatment following an unsupervised incident at a playgroup in Swindon.

Dad Hayden Webster had been sending his son to the Tick Tock playgroup in Wroughton since June, without any reason to be concerned about his safety.

He says during that time his son had a few “little knocks” as children do, but on Friday, October 18, he went to pick his son up at 3pm as normal and noticed he had a bump to the head and dried blood around his nose.

Hayden said the playgroup did not contact him or his partner to inform them there had been an accident and staff told him it must have happened when he was in the garden, which isn’t fully covered by CCTV.

Hayden said: “I was shocked at the state of him. My partner took him up to the hospital because his eyes were rolling and he was really drowsy, he wasn’t himself. They checked him over and kept him in for a couple of hours.

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“They had to give him some oxygen because his oxygen levels were really low and basically they wanted to monitor him to make sure he didn’t faint or anything.

“When it comes to a point where we have to take him to hospital, it’s obviously a big concern. Now he’s just got a scab where the bump was and he seems to be back to himself. It could have been a lot worse.

“We’ve taken him out because after that incident we looked at the Ofsted reports and found out it was shocking. They shouldn’t even be open with that kind of report.”

Tick Tock Playgroup was visited by Ofsted inspectors on July 23 and rated inadequate in every category.

They highlighted risks in the outdoor spaces, including the children’s bikes having broken pedals, children riding two-wheel pedal cycles without helmets and staff not teaching children how to ride the bikes safely, leading to accidents.

Ofsted issued a Welfare Requirements Notice, meaning staff had to make changes by a set date.

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They were told to “ensure hazards are identified and managed effectively and promptly, so children are not exposed to risk” by July 25 and “ensure all staff have the necessary skills to support children’s behaviour, to help them to manage their emotions and to learn the impact their actions may have on themselves and others” by August 6.

Oftsed later carried out a regulatory visit on July 31 and the report read: “We found the provider has taken action to remove hazards in the nursery to ensure children are not exposed to risk.

"This includes removing broken toys, securing the door to a utility plant room and ensuring items that had been piled up in the corner of the garden to dispose of have been removed. Additionally, the provider has reviewed the layout of the garden area to help children stay safe when using ride-on toys.

“We are satisfied the provider has met the safeguarding and welfare actions raised that were due by 25 July 2024. We will monitor the provider's response to ensure the actions that are due by 8 August 2024 are completed.”

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Hayden said he has recently been contacted by several other parents who have safeguarding concerns and he believes the playgroup have not made the permanent improvements required of them.

A Tick Tock Playgroup spokesperson said: “We consistently adhere to all policies and procedures daily to ensure that the staff-to-child ratios are always maintained ensuring children's safety.

“We are deeply disappointed with the Ofsted judgement. Our dedicated team is actively working to implement improvements to our services in response to the inspector's visit.

"We have already made several changes and look forward to showcasing the significant progress we have achieved during the next inspection."

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