A NURSERY school has sent out a letter calming the fears of parents after allegations of an incident between two children.

In paperwork seen by the Lancashire Telegraph, Longshaw Nursery School’s headteacher Andrea Batley assured parents that a ‘thorough and appropriate’ investigation had taken place after an alleged peer-on-peer assault took place between two children during school time.

In the letter Mrs Batley said: “We have dealt with an accusation and it has been investigated thoroughly and appropriately in accordance with our procedures.

“As parents you will know that there are often many reasons why a child may make an accusation and it is up to us as professionals working with safeguarding experts and parents to get to the bottom of it."

In July, an investigation was launched after a two-year-old escaped from the Blackburn nursery in the middle of the day.

The child’s mother, Nicola Walker took toddler Alexandra Snape out of the care of the nursery.

But council bosses insist that the nursery has undergone a dramatic turnaround over the last six months, gaining them an updated status of ‘good’ in their latest Ofsted report.

A spokesman said: “The nursery had been rated inadequate at its last inspection 12 months ago but just six months after, a new leadership team was put in place and it has been given the new rating.

“In the report, Longshaw was praised on the quality of teaching, child safety, parent partnership and effectiveness of the leadership and management.”

Addressing the claims, headteacher Ms Batley said: “It was incredibly upsetting for everyone at the nursery that these totally unfounded claims were circulating.

“What made the situation even worse is that we were unable to respond to the inaccurate information due to our legal duty to safeguard all of the children in our care and the importance of confidentiality.

“Safeguarding is a top priority for us all at Longshaw Nursery School and we work really hard to ensure all our children are safe and happy.

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“What we can say is that, on the rare occasion that a parent may have a concern, it is dealt with as a matter of urgency and investigated extensively and thoroughly – in-line with our strict policies and procedures, as was done in this case.

“These claims were also upsetting and distressing for the parents of the children at our nursery and so we contacted them individually to offer our full reassurances by telephone and in a letter home.

“On the back of that, we have received a great deal of support and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them all as it’s very much appreciated by all the staff here at the nursery.

“We are all very proud of the progress that has been made in recent months and we are absolutely determined that this will not deflect from that and we will continue to build on that hard work – offering our children the best start to their education.”