A NURSERY that was forced to close briefly due to concerns over safeguarding has been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.

Inspectors visited Blackburn’s Fernbank Nursery in December and were very pleased with the Whinney Lane centre.

Ofsted praised children on their exemplary behaviour and the competency of the staff.

Nursery manager, Farida Kondwilkar, said: “After a previous visit from Ofsted in December 2018, staff at Fernbank were more than eager to welcome Ofsted once again in December 2019.

“We are very pleased with how our inspection went.

“It was a very positive and encouraging day.”

Fernbank Nursery was temporarily shut down in December 2018 following an incident concerning the general wellbeing of one of the pupils, which cannot be revealed for confidentiality reasons.

After finding a flaw in the nursery’s paperwork, Ofsted inspectors told staff to update their safeguarding policies, including the recording methods of accidents and incidents, which were not seen as ‘robust enough’.

They were then issued with a suspension notice for one month.

However, nursery staff were quick to stress that there had been no risk of harm to children at the nursery, and following work to improve the safeguarding policy, inspectors lifted the suspension in January 2019 after only two weeks.

At the time, a spokesman for the nursery said: “Within seven days Fernbank invited Ofsted back into the setting to review the new system which was put into place allowing staff to identify safeguarding issues and to act upon these causes of concern accordingly.

“Ofsted analysed the new system which is now in place and made the decision to re-open Fernbank Nursery before the date given on the suspension.

“We will always ensure that children are protected from harm and grow up in a safer and secure environment.”