Nursery World - BBC investigation into safety of nurseries claims children are in 'danger' as settings able to 'manipulate' Ofsted inspections

A new BBC Panaroma programme examining the safety of nurseries claims thousands of children are being harmed by nursery staff as settings ‘manipulate’ Ofsted inspections.

Genevieve Meehan PHOTO Greater Manchester Police

PHOTO: Nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan tragically died after an incident at Tiny Toes Nursery in Stockport

The 30-minute programme being broadcast tonight on BBC North-West and Yorkshire, and available on iPlayer, focuses on the death of Genevieve Meehan, the nine-month-old who tragically died after being placed on a beanbag to sleep at Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, in 2022, and raises further instances of manhandling of children within other nurseries.

Following the death of Genevieve Meehan, Tiny Toes Nursery was closed. Nine-month-old Genevieve died from asphyxiation when she was tightly swaddled, strapped to a beanbag, and left unattended for 90 minutes.

The programme also refers to new figures obtained by the BBC that suggest incidents of harm to children have increased since Ofsted started to provide early years settings with notice of an inspection.

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