A Richmond Borough nursery hired staff without completing all background checks, putting children at risk of harm, an inspection has found.

Ofsted said some staff at The Barnes Village Nursery had been allowed to start working with children without all the required suitability checks, including references, when leaders personally knew the applicants.

A new Ofsted report said leaders at the independent nursery, in Barnes, had not made sure there was an open and positive culture around safeguarding, which had put children at significant risk of harm.

It said that while some controls had been put in place, including never allowing staff who had not undergone all suitability checks to be left alone with children, this did not eliminate the risk.

The nursery was told its leadership needed urgent improvement by Ofsted, while its performance across the inspection areas of achievement, behaviour and attitudes, children's welfare, curriculum and teaching and inclusion required attention, after an inspection on July 2.

While inspectors found younger children with allergies sat separately from the rest of the group at mealtimes for their safety, they said this could make them feel singled out.

They said staff did not set clear enough behavioural expectations, with some children running indoors, throwing items and stealing food from others' bowls.

The report also found children's achievement was inconsistent across the groups as support varied, with staff not always providing younger children with purposeful learning experiences.

It said younger children were disrupted by staff walking through the group during storytime, while they were interrupted during other activities to receive care.

The report said the rollout of the curriculum was too variable to make sure children fully benefitted, including staff completing tasks for children when a focus was for them to become independent.

It added that while staff supported children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) with one-to-one support and extra resources, support was not consistent across all ages.

However, the report praised staff for understanding how to recognise and report safeguarding concerns, forming positive relationships with children and comforting anyone who became upset.

It said children were able to be physically active and boost their communication skills by reading books, singing songs and talking.

Parents told inspectors their children were happy at the nursery and praised the "energetic staff".

The report said: "Leaders know what they want to achieve at the setting. However, their plans have not yet had sufficient impact to secure improvements in practice.

"For example, although staff receive some day-to-day directions from leaders, there is not a secure system in place to closely monitor all staff practice to quickly identify gaps in teaching and drive improvement. Furthermore, professional development is largely limited to mandatory training."

The nursery supports up to 90 children aged from one to four years old.

The Barnes Village Nursery declined to comment.