Toddlers left unsupervised were put at risk of choking at a church-run pre-school, while children with special needs “spend long periods wandering”, inspectors found.

In its first Ofsted evaluation since opening in 2020, Willesborough Baptist Pre-school in Ashford has received the worst possible score due to concerns over safeguarding and teaching practices.

“Staff do not adequately supervise children to ensure their safety", a report by the education watchdog said.

“For example, during the inspection, children were unsupervised at times while eating, meaning that staff were not on hand to deal with a potential emergency, such as choking.”

The report published last week also highlighted “weaknesses in the quality of teaching” particularly when it came to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

“Most staff do not consistently support children's learning," the document stated.

“At times during the inspection, some staff sat or stood watching the children rather than engaging in positive interactions to enhance their learning.

“Children with SEND receive very limited interaction from staff. As a result, these children spend long periods wandering and are not engaged in meaningful learning."

The pre-school is run as a charity and describes itself as having "strong links and supported" by Willesborough Baptist Church in Hythe Road.

The facility teaches around three dozen children aged two to four.

Ofsted ordered management to improve training for staff to ensure they consistently provide good-quality teaching and have a better understanding of how to support children with SEND.

The watchdog also stressed that staff should be more “vigilant in their supervision of children, particularly at mealtimes, to identify and address potential risks”.

In response to the scathing report, pre-school manager Sonya Perks said her team will be looking to make improvements.

“We would like to state that we are endeavouring to address the issues raised in the report,” said Ms Perks.

“We are putting substantial measures in place to reach a high-quality standard for our children.”

When asked about what specific measures staff will put in place to better serve children with SEND, Ms Perks repeated: “We are putting substantial measures in place to reach a high-quality standard for our children.”

The nursery will be re-evaluated by Ofsted by June 2023, when inspectors will be looking to see if their several recommendations for improvement have been implemented.