'I quit my job at a nursery after I saw things that would horrify every parent'

A former early years professional has told how she quit the industry because she claims children at private nurseries are left in the care of poorly trained, lowly paid and "burnt-out" young staff.

The woman, who we are calling Laura*, lifted the lid on incidents she has witnessed during her 12 years in the industry, including things she admits would horrify most parents. She felt compelled to do so after Roksana Lecka was convicted of child cruelty as she systematically abused multiple young children in her care at a nursery in Twickenham, southwest London.

Lecka, 22, will be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on September 26, 2025. The setting in question, Riverside Nursery Twickenham, has since closed.

The whistleblower says the case disgusted her former colleagues but is unsurprised the horrifying attacks were slow to be discovered, saying staff are often so stretched - with mountains of admin compromising care - that adult-to-child ratios become unsafe.

Things became so concerning in Laura's experience that she saw a baby roll off a changing table and hit their head on the floor, after a barely trained apprentice turned her back on the child for a moment. Children with allergies were given the wrong food at her old setting - despite parents being assured that strict protocols were in place.

READ MORE: Nursery worker jailed for 14 years for killing baby girl by strapping face onto bean bag

READ MORE: Desperate plea for more men to become 'superhero' nursery nurses as sector faces shortages

Laura reached breaking point and left the early years industry, a trend reflected across the sector as the government has recently started a drive to recruit new employees for different backgrounds. These include more men, a move backed by early years educator Danny Berney, who told the Mirror last year his job allowed him to become "a real-life superhero".

But Laura is pessimistic anything will change. She claims she witnessed bitchy staff, managers displaying favouritism towards workers, employees being begged to work while sick, and regular "sugar-coating" of incidents to parents arriving to pick up their children.

"A lot of other people have left the industry. They're losing all the good staff. And you're going to be left with people who are doing this [referring to Lecka] to children," the whistleblower told Mail Online.

"If one employee is cleaning up after lunch and another has to change a nappy, you've then got one person looking after 14 children. There are simply not enough eyes watching them."

Referencing how an apprentice at a former workplace accidentally let a baby roll off a changing table, she said the incident was neither reported accurately to the parents involved nor was subsequent action taken against the staff member.

"This child fell from a height. It's likely they hit their head but you're telling a parent a different story? Nothing was done [in the setting]. The only change made was that the employee then had to change the baby on the floor. It's a lack of training - why was she not taught to hold the baby properly when changing a nappy?"

Laura insisted she will never return to the profession as, sometimes, she would come home and cry following difficult days. She wants to warn other parents of her experience in light of the Lecka case.

The Department for Education stresses on its website England has plenty of high quality nurseries. The government has also approved 300 new school-based nurseries in the first round of funding, delivering on its manifesto pledge to create thousands of new school-based nurseries by the end of this Parliament.