SWNS
A nursery has hit out at reports of an attack involving two of its pupils and insisted it always follows safety procedures rigorously.
Three-year-old Katie Ann Guttridge was injured when another girl, aged two, was said to have attacked her at Ratby Pre-School Nursery in Church Lane in Ratby, Leicester, earlier this month.
Her mother said Katie Ann had been left with bite marks, a damaged eye socket and facial scratches after being a attacked by a TWO-YEAR-OLD GIRL at the nursery.
The nursery, which is run by a committee of parent volunteers, confirmed it had reported an incident which took place on December 13 to Ofsted and that the education watchdog is now investigating.
In a statement, the nursery said it took any allegations of unsafe practice "very seriously" and that it had contacted Ofsted, the local authority and followed internal procedures following the incident.
But it said staff and parents who used the pre-school DISPUTED reports of the circumstances of the incident which had been reported in the media, as well as allegations about previous incidents involving a particular child.
Staff had been left "very upset" by these reports, it said. It added that it was grateful to those parents who had shown their support in recent days.
In a report dated November 29 2011, Ofsted rated the quality of the pre-school's early years and childcare provision as "good", including child protection.
In a statement, Ratby Pre-School said: "All early years and childcare settings take any allegation of unsafe practice very seriously, and we are no exception. In this particular case, we have followed safety procedures rigorously.
"We contacted Ofsted and the local authority to report the incident as soon as it happened on December 13, then following internal procedures. Ofsted undertook an investigative visit to our pre-school on December 19 and we await its report findings."
A spokesman for Ofsted confirmed it had launched an investigation into whether the provider was meeting the "legal requirements of registration" following an incident.
Leicestershire Police also confirmed it had received reports of the incident from the three-year-old's parents and had advised them to contact their local authority and Ofsted.
A three year-old girl has been left with bite marks, a damaged eye socket and facial scratches after being a attacked by a TWO-YEAR-OLD GIRL at nursery.
Katie Ann's mother, Clara Mackow, 28, told The Sun: "I just cried when I saw Katie. She had gashes to her lips and a terrible black eye.
"We had to take her to hospital because a doctor thought her eye socket was fractured. She could have been blinded.
"Pre-school should be fun but Katie is scared of going now and doesn't even want to go outside."
According to the newspaper, incident reports written by staff show she had attacked Katie THREE times before the latest onslaught. She hit her on the forehead with a "plastic drainer," pinched her hand with toy bricks and made a mark by sucking her cheek while grabbing her hair.