Education watchdog Ofsted has ordered action be taken at a Royston nursery, after an unannounced visit was prompted by a complaint made by a parent raising concerns about child supervision.

The parent sent an email on June 12 to Ofsted about Royston Day Nursery, which triggered an unannounced visit to the nursery in Lumen Road on June 19.

The Ofsted report released on June 21 stated that "we received additional information that raised concerns about child supervision, which suggested this provider was not meeting some of the requirements".

Ofsted served a welfare requirements notice to the nursery - a legal notice that requires the provider to take action within the timescale set out.

The action, needed by Monday, is to ensure that staffing arrangements meet the needs of all children and keep them safe, ensure that all children are adequately supervised at all times, and ensure that staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

Since receiving the notice, the nursery has closed its out of school club to address "staff ratios".

The mother who made the complaint has since taken her daughter out of the nursery.

Royston Day Nursery is run by the Davidson Roberts group. When the Crow asked the company for a response regarding the Ofsted visit, Jane Roberts, owner of Royston Day Nursery, said: "The outcome of this visit was for us to pay immediate attention to staff ratios, particularly in the hours of Urchins Out of School Club drop-off and pick-up time. As a result we decided to close the out of school club with immediate effect.

"We have been trying to employ additional good quality staff for several months now to help with Urchins staffing but, unfortunately, this has proven impossible to do. Now we have closed the club we are confident that we will have no further issue regarding this action."

In May the nursery was given a 'requires improvement' rating by Ofsted following an inspection the previous month.

In their key findings, inspectors said "staffing arrangements during busy times of the day do not consistently meet the learning needs of all children", that information about children's learning needs "is not shared with all staff who work directly with children when the key person is not present", and that "systems to monitor staff's practice and personal effectiveness are still being developed".

Under its strengths, the inspectors highlighted that babies "enjoy fun sensory experiences", that "partnerships with parents are friendly and positive", with staff encouraging them to "share ongoing information about their children's care and learning needs".

The report also said parents are "very complimentary about the nursery and staff", and that "staff have effective systems in place to meet children's dietary requirements and medical needs".

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Crow has removed comments in this story which a parent made about the nursery, saying she thought children "weren't safe" and "appeared to be unattended", as these claims are unsubstantiated.