Our Croydon Ofsted rating explained

Dear Parent/Carer,

As you may know as well as inspecting schools, Ofsted also regulate holiday provision if 4 year olds are present. We welcome all inspections as an opportunity to demonstrate the high-quality childcare we are proud to provide at our camps. The inspection reports are there to offer an insight to parents of what it is like for children at the provisions.

Our most recent inspection report included many positive observations from the inspector, reflecting the care and attention our team provides. However, there are a few comments that hint at an issue which may raise questions, particularly as some of the more serious comments lack detail but appear in the Actions. We want to offer full transparency so you can understand the context behind the report and the steps we’ve taken in response.

Over the summer we received an anonymous email alerting us to a 9 second TikTok video that had been posted, featuring children in a swimming pool. The sender expressed concern with the content.

In line with our safeguarding policy, the video was immediately removed. We informed the Local Authority, who reviewed the matter and concluded that it did not meet the threshold for external investigation. They advised us to carry out a full internal investigation.

Our findings were as follows:

• The activity did not follow our pool rules
• The two children involved were both competent swimmers
• Parental consent had been given for them to appear in a TikTok video
• The filming took place in shallow water, well within the children’s standing depth
• Lifeguards and staff were present behind the camera, along with other children in the group
• The children were fully aware of the planned activity and were enthusiastic about taking part

While the children involved were safe, happy, and we had parental consent, the activity was not in line with our strict pool activity practices. We accept this was a misjudgement and have reinforced to the staff involved and the matter was formally recorded in HR files. The pool activity procedures were reviewed and reinforced. We followed all required safeguarding steps and maintained transparency with the authorities.

We want to reassure you that child safety is and always will be our top priority. We accept that this incident did not meet our standards and have acted to address it. We take our responsibility seriously and remain committed to continuous improvement.

We hope you enjoy reading all the positive observations contained in the report and now have the detail around the Actions awarded that relate directly to this singular event. If you would like to speak to us further about this matter or any aspect of safeguarding at the camp, please don’t hesitate to call and ask for me directly.

Yours sincerely
Sarah Price,
DSL

SEE FULL REPORT HERE