After receiving a tip-off, Ofsted inspectors visited Camden Square Playcentre in June where they found it was no longer a safe setting – with staff “merely watching” the young children and not properly checking adults as they entered the building.
The inspectors noticed staff standing idle during outdoor playtime, leaving the children to help each other use large equipment without recognising this might not help them learn safe behaviour.
Their report deemed the standard of the service had fallen dramatically since a positive inspection in 2022, when it was found to be a “safe and secure” early years setting with “committed and nurturing” staff members.
But three years later and in the midst of recent “turbulence” from employee turnover and management changes, staff were failing to spot potential risks to children, the inspectors said. This led to a safeguarding culture that did not put kids’ interests first.
For example, despite their having completed training, staff had not shown full awareness of safeguarding rules around the proper use of mobile phones in their workplace. Investigators also saw gaps in support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
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Ofsted has since issued a Welfare Requirements Notice, a serious warning saved for those early years and childcare providers it deems inadequate. The centre was given until last month to make stark changes, including making sure kids were supervised “appropriately” at all times from now on.
The early years setting opened inside Camden Square park and garden in 2019, and is one of three in the borough run by Camden-based “grass-roots” charity Play, Adventure and Community Enrichment (PACE). The charity advertises play worker jobs at each of its centres paying £14.94 per hour, above the London Living Wage (£13.85) and offering host of benefits to “passionate, experienced” staff who can deliver “exceptional” services to the community.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) asked the charity what changes it had made since the July inspection to comply with the watchdog’s requirements. At the time of writing PACE had not responded.
