In an exclusive interview with Nursery World, Satnam Parhar, who runs Buttons Day Nursery School in Hanwell, west London, said he had been shocked by the footage.
The documentary revolved around an eight-month undercover operation, in which a 21-year-old BBC journalist, Imogen Willcocks, posed as a nursery assistant and was able to work at Buttons and Just Learning in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, without references being taken up or Criminal Records Bureau checks. She also worked at a Mark Warner resort in Dahab, Egypt.
Mr Parhar said, 'We tried to see the film before it was aired, but the BBC refused. The scenes were collected over five weeks and the BBC presented it for maximum impact.'
He admitted the programme did highlight areas of concern, particularly around the behaviour and attitude of some of the nursery's staff, which appeared to show them swearing in front of children.
Mr Parhar said that a disciplinary investigation was underway involving four members of staff who were implicated in the programme and who had been suspended on full pay.
He said, 'Staff behaviour was key. You expect any inappropriate behaviour to be brought to your attention.'
The nursery has since held meetings to reassure parents and put out a statement to counter the BBC's allegations.
In the statement, Mr and Mrs Parhar said that the nursery manager made a number of attempts to contact Ms Willcocks' referee and left voice messages on the mobile phone number provided.
Mr Parhar also said Ms Willcocks had told him she had no prior experience but wanted to pursue an NVQ in childcare and education, which was not made clear in the programme. Trainees were paid according to the Modern Apprenticeship Guidelines, he said. 'The implication that we were paying large numbers of staff below the minimum wage is outrageous.'
Mr Parhar said the nursery had received great support from the parents. Buttons is on the list of recommended nurseries for BBC staff and some parents were BBC employees who were writing to complain to the BBC about the documentary.
Mr Parhar said that he was taking legal advice and was considering complaining to the media regulator Ofcom.
The nursery held a forum with parents on Saturday. Mr Parhar said that it showed the level of parental support that of 85 children registered with the nursery, only six had left since the programme was shown last Wednesday (5 March).
He said Julie Parhar, who also owns the nursery, has become nursery manager and will be on-site daily to ensure the nursery maintains high standards of childcare and education.
Viewer response
Outraged comments have been flooding in to Nursery World's inbox this week from across the early years and childcare workforce in response to the programme, which also accused Ofsted of failing to adequately regulate nurseries.
There seem to be mixed views among nursery owners about whether Ofsted inspections are sufficiently rigorous to protect children and whether inspectors are sufficiently qualified to recognise good and bad practice (see Analysis, page 10).
The BBC investigation was prompted by a current Ofsted inspector's claims that 'Ofsted reports are not worth the paper they're printed on'.
The inspector also claimed that out of 700 nurseries, childminders, after-school clubs and creches she and her colleagues had inspected, there were only five that she would send her own young children to.
