Ofsted is cracking down on a preschool branded ‘inadequate’ after children were found “wandering around” instead of learning.

Inspectors found the education provided at Elham Pre School, in the village of Elham between Canterbury and Folkestone, not up to scratch, with little progress having been made since the last visit.

“Staff still do not clearly understand their responsibility in meeting the care and learning needs of children,” wrote the education watchdog in a recent report.

“While some children play with the resources available, others tend to wander around, disrupting the play of those who are engaged.”

Officers inspected the village hall where the school operates on September 23, awarding the lowest possible grade in every category – quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.

The report said children did not experience “an ambitious, focused curriculum” and that there was no designated special educational needs coordinator in place.

“The provider has not ensured that there is a designated special educational needs coordinator within the setting to support children with SEND,” the report said.

“The provision is inadequate and Ofsted intends to take enforcement action.”

Although safeguarding arrangements were judged effective, Ofsted concluded that many children “miss out on purposeful learning opportunities” due to poor staff deployment and weak behaviour management.

The preschool has been issued with a Welfare Requirements Notice, an official paper requiring it to take specific actions by a certain date.

Bosses have been ordered to improve staff training and, by November 3, create a new curriculum tailored to children’s needs.

Failure to comply could see Ofsted take further, more stringent enforcement action.

The nursery, which caters for 12 children aged two to three, was previously rated ‘requires improvement’ when it was last inspected in 2024.

A spokesperson for the preschool said: “We were very disappointed to receive an inadequate judgement from the Ofsted inspector.

“We are working closely with the local authority to ensure we put in place the requirements they deemed inadequate on the day of inspection.”