I read about the conviction of Roksana Lecka following her abuse of 21 babies in a Twickenham nursery, and it demonstrates the absolute vulnerability of children in a place where they are meant to be safe. Cases like this impact the entire nursery sector. When Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrat MP for Twickenham, called for ‘urgent reforms to make nurseries and early years settings safe for our children’, my heart sank. Overwhelming accountability and crushing oversight don't make children safer; it simply punishes the thousands of people who work hard and find themselves blamed for the actions of another.
Almost all practitioners understand their responsibilities and take them seriously. An infinite number of no-notice Ofsted inspections or CCTV in every room is not going to change that, it will simply serve to make a poorly paid, low-status job worse. It is not right to damn an entire workforce based on the behaviour of a tiny number of abhorrent criminals.
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