Eastbourne nursery celebrates clean sweep of ‘good’ ratings from Ofsted

Nurseries are judged on four categories - leadership and management, the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and personal development. Bluebell Barn Children’s Nursery was inspected November 8 and was ranked as ‘good’ in all categories.

The nursery is praised for giving babies and toddlers the chance to develop their physical skills and independence in age-appropriate ways. This spills into how staff want children to handle situations on their own and work on their imaginative skills.

The quality of care and education supplied is consistently evaluated, the report says. When it comes to the curriculum, all staff are involved in the planning of it and so know what they want the children to learn and skills they want children to work on. However, the nursery was given one thing to work on - making sure staff members are clear on what vocabulary and communication skills they want children to learn.

Harriet Crouch, operations manager, said: “We have been working on developing our own curriculum which promotes independence and ensures that every child is confident and excited to learn. When we got the call to inform us of the inspection, we couldn’t wait to show off our hard work. The inspector got to see our curriculum in action, which places emphasis on every moment being a ‘learning opportunity’.”

The report says: “The nursery manager and the special educational needs coordinator work with other professionals, family members and the nursery staff well. This ensures children with identified delays in their learning receive targeted support in a timely manner. In addition, key persons know their key children well and implement strategies that help them reach their full potential. This allows all children to thrive and make good progress.”

Children from different cultural backgrounds are made to feel welcome and the staff's professional development and well-being is supported with regular training, the report says. Ms Crouch said: “We have provided in-house training for all our staff to ensure the curriculum is well-embedded. The report states ‘children show positive attitudes to learning’. This staff development continues through regular supervisions carried out by our wonderful and passionate nursery manager, Elle. We are constantly reflecting on what we do and how we can ensure that what we deliver, is of the highest standard.

“We are over the moon with the result and can’t wait for all our families and future families, to read the glowing report.”

Full report here

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