This could have ended in more tragedy. Others will die if nurseries don't change'

A mother described shock after learning a 14-month-old toddler died at the same nursery where her child attended. In December 2022, she arrived to collect her 11-month-old and found the nursery flooded with ambulances and police. The toddler, Noah Sibanda, was found unresponsive in the baby room and died in hospital an hour later. A nursery worker, Kimberley Cookson, was jailed for gross negligence manslaughter after CCTV showed her wrapping Noah in a sleeping bag, covering his head, laying him face down, and restraining him with her leg before leaving him unchecked for two hours. Ofsted permanently closed the nursery in April 2023. The mother demanded urgent childcare reforms to prevent similar tragedies, including stronger staff checks, more child protection training, and stricter health and safety enforcement.

"On a Friday afternoon in December 2022, the mother arrived to collect 11-month-old Jenson from Fairytales Day Nursery only to see it flooded with ambulances and police. My first thought was, is my son involved? Noah Sibanda had been found unresponsive in the baby room at the nursery and was pronounced dead in the hospital an hour later. Last month, nursery worker Kimberley Cookson was jailed for three years and four months for the gross negligence manslaughter of Noah."

"Cookson was recorded by CCTV cameras tightly wrapping Noah in a sleeping bag, placing a blanket over his head, and laying him face down to sleep inside an indoor teepee. She also restrained him with her left leg before Noah went unchecked for two hours. The nursery was permanently closed by Ofsted in April 2023. Ms Leech told The Independent: It plagues me every day."

"The guilt that we feel as parents sending [our son] there to what could have been his death, it just comes back, and it haunts you. Along with others whose children attended the nursery, Ms Leech is demanding urgent changes across childcare to stop other parents from experiencing the same tragedy as Noah's family. There were many other parents that this could have ended in tragedy for, and it hasn't been acknowledged, she said."

"It needs to happen now, because it will happen again. It's happened before. How far can we trust Ofsted now? It's really brought Ofsted under the spotlight. Ms Leech is calling for reform to the safeguarding of nurseries, which would see staff undergo more extensive background checks and child protection training. She also wants to see a stricter enforcement of health and safety standards, which wou"

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