A HORRIFIED mother says her special needs daughter “could’ve died” after coming out of an east London nursery with her face bloodied and bruised.
Mum Lorretta says she placed her four-year-old Kiana, who is non-verbal, in Busy Bees at Ilford on April 23.
Shortly after, Lorretta said she received a call and was informed Kiana had a “run-in” with another child.
Lorretta asked her mum to pick Kiana up – who was shocked to find her granddaughter with her cheeks covered in blood.
Lorretta said: “When she went down there she (mum) nearly had a heart-attack.
“Kiana’s face was completely swollen on one side. She was just blinking. There was nothing from her basically.
“I’m just glad that my daughter’s alive. I genuinely feel she could’ve died that day. She’s so vulnerable.”
The mum says she was left speechless and “absolutely disgusted” – and was counting her blessings when Kiana made it home.
“She would’ve just laid there and been attacked. I’m fortunate that it stopped when it did, and she’s home,” Lorretta said.
According to Busy Bees staff, Kiana fell into a physical altercation with another child – and it somehow turned into a bloody battle.
Spokesman Jonathan Boddy assured Ilford staff dealt with the incident “appropriately” and “properly”.
He said: “There was an incident at our Ilford nursery involving two children where a child sustained an injury.
“Immediately following the incident, and having cared for the two children, we informed both sets of parents.
“We have carried out a full investigation into what happened and are satisfied that whilst unfortunate, no blame can be attributed to any member of staff.”
The nursery referred itself to the local authority designated officer (LADO), a council worker who responds to concerns of child harm.
Redbridge Council‘s LADO investigated and found no safety issues to children at the nursery, the council said.
The spokeswoman said: “In this case an independent investigation has taken place and we are satisfied there is no risk to children at the nursery.”
There are some simple steps that may be helpful if your child is involved in an unfortunate incident, says Stephen Hudson from legalexpert.co.uk.
Seek medical treatment
This seems like an obvious step if your child is injured.
But aside from getting them the care they need, this will also ensure you can gain a medical report from a doctor.
This would include details on the injury and the treatment, which can be used as evidence if you need to follow up the issue with the school – or authorities.
Speak with witnesses
It’s recommended to speak with staff about what happened before escalating the matter beyond the school.
If you still don’t have answers, Mr Hudson says: “talk to anyone who witness your child’s accidents”.
Seek visual evidence
You should take photos of your child’s injury, and if you think some sort of hazard is to blame, make sure you snap pictures of that too.
If you think there may be CCTV footage capturing the incident, request a copy.
Tell authorities
If the issue is not resolved, the government recommends telling the council.
Councils are armed with local officers who are tasked with investigating allegations of child harm at school.
You contact the Health and Safety Executive, the government says.
Ofsted, who inspect child services, also offer a complaints procedure.
Busy Bees maintains their care of children is “always” priortised.
Mr Boddy said: “We always take incidents such as this seriously on the rare occasion they happen.”
But Lorretta says Kiana hasn’t been the same since suffering a series of scratches to her face.
“There’s days when she just randomly cries. She flinches a bit when you move too quickly towards her,” Lorretta said.
Do you have a similar story? Email leonard.owen@the-sun.co.uk
Lorretta claims the nursery showed her a “lack of compassion”, and asked education inspector Ofsted to investigate the incident.
An Ofsted spokeswoman declined to comment on individual cases.
Lorretta also contacted cops but was ultimately told there wasn’t evidence for it to be escalated to a police matter.
It’s not the first time the Busy Bees Ilford branch has been at the centre of controversy.
I’m just glad that my daughter’s alive
Lorretta
Google reviews of the nursery are mostly positive, but one woman alleged that her daughter “nearly lost her life” there after suffering an anaphylactic shock in 2021.
Reviewer ‘Aisha M’ said: “My daughter suffers from multiple severe allergies (Anaphylaxis) and attended Busy Bees at Ilford in Sept 2021 for one month.
“A staff member gave my daughter dairy cheese (which she is allergic to) and my daughter suffered a severe Anaphylactic shock and nearly lost her life. Please avoid this nursery.”
Busy Bees responded to that claim, saying it had re-trained staff and learnt from the incident.
“We sincerely apologise that this incident took place, we followed the correct procedure immediately after the incident to ensure the safety of the child,” Busy Bees said.
“We have since re-trained staff and taken learning from this experience.”
Worried mum Loretta says that although she can’t undo what happened to Kiana, she hopes telling her story reduces the chance it happens to someone else.
A recent inquest heard that a baby boy died after choking at a nursery because his mum didn’t want to be pushy with staff about blending his food.
In April, a mum told court of her heart-breaking last words to her baby who was allegedly killed by a nursery manager at Tiny Toes in Stockport.
A family was last year awarded a five-figure sum after their baby was burned by boiling bleach in Aberdeen in November 2021.
A dad in May 2023 picked up his daughter from a nursery to find her covered in blood after a fall at Little Green Rascals in York.
In June 2023 a mother shared a similar horror story, picking her baby to find his face covered in scratches.
A toddler in 2019 had half of his big toe severed in a nursery accident, but staff were accused of trying to cover the injury with baby wipes.
Back in 2018, a mum was left furious after her son got injured playing in a dangerous playground she accused the school of creating.
