downsmail.co.uk You have your say on nursery Ofsted report


Many readers have written in response to our story in the December edition ofDowns Mail re- garding the inadequate Ofsted rating given to Cherubs Pre-School in Linton, run by Cindy Fox, whichwas blamed on the setting’s policy of tex- ting photos of children to their parents. We do not have space to publish all of the let- ters, but here are some extracts fromthem:


My son attended Cherubs fromApril 2007-July 2008. Cindy would send me texts and photos of my son playing, happy and settled. I can't believe that such a well organised, caring, lov- ing place and manager can have their reputa- tion so inexcusably defiled. MelHawkins


Both ofmy children attended Cherubs from22 months. I had visited other settings where awe- bcam or Facebook page/group was used and found these to be too open for my liking. The fact that Cherubs offeredmevisual reassurance ofmy child (neverwith others in view),was one of themain reasons I chose it. Hayley Embleton


I found the photos policy very comforting asmy son had never been to a nursery before.Ofsted needs to look at other nurseries, some ofwhich havewebcamand Facebook pages for all to see. Jacquie Stoddart


Truckers’ parking must stop


Dear Sir –With regard to your article on lorry parks for HGVs, Paul Carter’s statement about truckers having nowhere to go when their tacho time runs out is totally unacceptable and misses the point. These people should be planning their journey so their time doesn’t run out when they are on a motorway or trunk road and then just simply stop on the emergency hard shoulder for overnight parking. These people are not stupid, as no action


is taken. It has become all too easy for them to just pull up in thisway. Kent is then a very convenient jumping-off point for their onward cross-channel journey. I have had communication with the Chief Constable of Kent Police andwas told they are turning a blind eye to this illegal parking. How can that be right? It is widely recognised by various authorities that the emergency hard shoulder is a dangerous place to be and yet this practice isspiralling out of control. On a journey late yesterday evening I counted 34 HGVs parked nose to tail on the hard shoulder and this did not include others parked on the slip road. It doesn’t leave much imagination to


work out what they do with all their waste in the morning before they set off – imagine the build-up night after night. I shudder to think what would happen in


cases like this if therewas a major multi- lane accident – how would the emergency services get through? Many of you will recall a few years ago,


in the Midlands, a lady stopped on the hard shoulder to read her map. The police prosecuted her because they deemed it wasn’t an emergency. How can the authorities square that incident with the illegal HGV hard shoulder overnight parking currently widespread in Kent? Eric Pennington, Whitchurch Close, Maidstone


Although my son Ben has had some difficult mornings, Cindy Fox and her staff sentmea re- assuring photo giving me peace ofmind. Asih Barnett


I am a mother of four who also works in safe- guarding. The photos offer parents the reassur- ance that their child is happy and capture the moments wewould otherwisemiss. SamanthaMercer


The protection of children must be paramount. Misuse of images of children has taken place in other settings and was widely publicised. I re- alise that every playgroup/school thinks that would not happen in their organisation but to ignore the possibility is not an adequate re- sponse. I fully support Ofsted for taking such a stand, and think that all schools should have a policy of no photography on their premises. Paul Bartup


Bothmy children attended Cherubs Pre-school and adored Cindy and her lovely staff.When I received the odd photo ofmy children I found it extremely comforting. EmmaPiles


I never had any issues with being sent the pic- tures. It puts the parents’minds at rest as they can see their children have settled. S Fiddes


My granddaughter attends Cherubs Pre-school in Linton and sending photos to parents is an excellent idea. S Lumbard


Cindy and her team are not taking photos just for the sake of it, they are doing it on the rare occasionswhen our children may be having an off day. As a parent, leaving an upset child is one of the toughest things to do but Cherubs has made this experience so much easier. Nicola Lumbard


I contacted a local nursery and a colleague at another pre-school since learning of this injus- tice. The nursery says it is happy to email par- ents pictures of their children. My pre-school colleague thought that parental consent alone madethe judgment a sham. I hope that the Of- sted inspector concerned is held accountable for her actions. ChristinaHarris


The reassurance I received fromthe occasional photograph sent by the manager Cindy Foxwas second to none. It is a total outrage if this rat- ing is not overturned. Jill Thorn


To see more reader views on the Ofsted re- port, go to www.downsmail.co.uk


lift is broken and the roof needs to be fixed. AndrewWells, the charity’s president,


told me the repairs will cost about £100,000. I’ll be supporting the charity in its campaign and I encourage you to get involved too. Visit maidstonemencap.org to find out how you can help. Helen Whately, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent


Pleasure to support Mencap


Dear Sir – One of the pleasures of being an MP is that I get the chance to see for myself the work of local charities, and when needed, lend support. Recently, I visited Maidstone Mencap,


which supports people with learning disabilities and is itself in need of support from the community. Iwas invited to join a card-making session. Squeezing into a lile nursery chairs, I helped an enthusiastic three-year- old with her card. Therewere felt-tip pens, fluff, glue and googly eyes, but like my daughter, her favourite thing was glier. Maidstone Mencap provides services for individuals of all ages who have special needs. There’s also a youth club with table football, pool and a summer barbecue for teenagers; and regular bingo nights, quizzes and outings for seniors. They have special equipment including a sensory room and expert staff, aswell as commied volunteers. The service gives carers a much-needed


break. One mother told me her child had loved the playgroup when shewas younger and had thrived as a result. Although her child is now at a mainstream school, she now volunteers for the charity. Mencap’s building, Cobtree Hall, is an


old church on the edge of Mote Park. It’s a lovely spot, particularly in summer when the children can play outside, but the building is in desperate need of repair. The


Traffic choking town


Dear Sir – Maidstonewas at one time a relatively easy place to access, park, shop and travel through. You could virtually guarantee to reach a destination on the other side of town from the south with reasonable accuracy at most times of day. People could commute into and out of the


town without the fear of being late for work, and kids could get to school on time in a safe, clean environment. Now I can only say I havewatched this


town slowly diminish in terms of quality of life. It is a town that is fast becoming a jungle of new housing estates, without any real thinking about the effect on the quality of life. The list of decisions which affect quality of


life is endless. Loss of park and ride facilities has led to the town becoming choked with traffic. Increased use of traffic lights leads to more rat runs, and it is very noticeable how many people are jumping the lights. There is a lack of leadership at all levels when it comes to getting a south to north bypass (I suspect self-interested Nimbys are preventing that). Worst of all is the building of housing es-


tates on greenfield sites. There is no thought about providing the required infrastructure such as schools, GP surgeries and transport. Maidstone is not a town of the future but


one of a lost quality of life. Ask anyone in Maidstone about their quality of life in terms of the above, and I suspect the answers would be an overwhelming agreement that it has been badly affected and is to get worse. Nick Kelly, Loose


Maidstone South January 2016 23


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