OFSTED has shut a Wythall nursery where staff threatened the youngsters and where management techniques were, in some cases, “tantamount to bullying and emotional abuse”.

The Green Nursery, in Wythall, has had its registration suspended until Ofsted feels “robust safeguarding arrangements are sufficiently in place for children”.

Following an inspection on June 26, Ofsted inspectors rated the quality and standards of the early years provision at the nursery as 4, meaning inadequate.

The damning report says “staff interaction with the children is poor, teaching is ineffective and staff often appear disinterested”. It goes on to describe a cookery activity which was observed. The inspector said staff did not talk or engage with the children, and when one youngster accidently spilt some of his mixture, staff immediately apportioned blame, saying the child had done it deliberately.

The report went on to say that when children try to initiate their own play and move away from a planned activity, they are physically pulled back and made to stand still “sometimes by staff physcally holding them”.

And when children get felt pen on their hands during a writing activity because they “realise they can make different marks if they use their fingers” they are “dragged to the bathroom where the manager physically scrubs their hands” to remove the pen.

The report said that with the exception of one staff member, the staff do not physically bond with the children or give them a cuddle when they are tired or upset.

The inspector said: “Children are constantly berated and, as a result, lack confidence and self-esteem. Behaviour management techniques are totally inappropriate and unacceptable and in some cases are tantamount to bullying and emotional abuse.”

And added: “Children are frequently threatened and are physically made to comply with the manager’s and staff’s demands.”

A parent, who did not wish to be named, said: “I am absolutely dumbfounded. If this was going on while inspectors were there, I can only imagine what went on when they weren’t.”

An Ofsted added: “We are currently investigating to ensure that robust safeguarding arrangements are sufficiently in place for children at The Green Nursery in Worcestershire. It would be inappropriate to make any further comment at this stage.”