A nursery’s registration was suspended, resulting in an immediate six-week closure.
Following its suspension by Ofsted, Bright Horizons Nursery, located at Furness General Hospital in Barrow-in-Furness, closed on July 22.
The nursery was closed due to a “reasonable belief that children may be at risk of harm,” according to a notice from the education watchdog that was displayed on the door.
Alison Murphy, whose 16-month-old daughter goes to the nursery, stated that she would have to depend on family for child care. The childcare has expressed regret over the closure and stated that it was collaborating with Ofsted.
An Ofsted representative stated that the suspension was in place “to allow enquiries to be completed in relation to the concerns” and that they were unable to provide any more information at this time.
Murphy informed the BBC that the shutdown was not announced.
It’s been a nightmare,” she said. “I went to the local mum’s group on Facebook and it said it was closed with immediate effect.
“We use that nursery because we work really long hours,” she said, adding that she and her partner would have to rely on relatives for daycare. We drop her off at seven and pick her up at six,” she explained. “The staff didn’t seem to know when we picked her up on Wednesday.” “See you on Friday,” they all said.
“She’ll adjust to a new nursery, but until then we’re going to have to take days off unpaid.”
“Our priority remains the safety and wellbeing of children and we will continue to work with Ofsted,” a Bright Horizons representative stated. “We understand the very real impact this temporary closure will have on our families and we are sorry for the disruption this has caused.”
“We will keep families updated as appropriate throughout this process and will provide further information when we are able to do so.”
Due to the possibility of children being exposed to a “risk of harm,” a nursery in Barrow has been temporarily closed.
The Bright Horizons Group oversees 247 locations around England, including the Barrow Day Nursery, which is situated within Furness General Hospital.
Following the discovery of violations at 69 locations, Ofsted issued a Welfare Requirements Notice (WRN) requiring the group to resolve all identified safeguarding and welfare deficiencies by August 1, 2026.
According to Ofsted, the notice was about organisational arrangements and did not necessarily address issues found at specific nurseries.
It stated that most Bright Horizons nurseries were still compliant.
Barrow Day Nursery had a satisfactory overall rating from Ofsted inspectors during their most recent inspection in 2022.
The current schedule for the suspension at Barrow Day Nursery is July 22–September 1.
“We are taking this step because we reasonably believe that the continued provision of childcare may expose children to a risk of harm.
The purpose of the suspension is to allow time for further enquiries to be made and/or for steps to be taken to reduce or eliminate any risk of harm.”
“Suspension does not automatically mean that a provider will be unsuitable to provide care in the future, or that we will cancel a registration – we only take steps to cancel a registration if we consider that a provider is no longer suitable to provide childcare.”
The WRN is intended to draw attention to the need for “serious action,” which will be overseen by Ofsted.
“Most Bright Horizons nurseries are meeting requirements,” stated Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector.The goal of today’s action is to determine what needs to be improved at the management level within the Bright Horizons group. We have already released reports and updates on every nursery we visited.
A Bright Horizons representative stated in June that the company was “disappointed” with the result and was “taking the matter extremely seriously” following the issuance of an Ofsted compliance notice.
“We understand the very real impact this temporary closure will have on our families and we are sorry for the disruption this has caused,” they said in reaction to the Barrow closure. “Our priority remains the safety and wellbeing of children and we will continue to work with Ofsted.”
“We will keep families updated as appropriate throughout this process and will provide further information when we are able.”