Nursery praised by Ofsted - just months after being told it needs to improve

Safehands Nursery At Out Rawcliffe, based in a former school in Crook Gate Lane, brought in a new manager just days after being told to improve in August last year.

She made several changes, bringing in fresh faces and focusing on forest schooling – an in vogue method of outdoor learning – before Ofsted returned and hiked its ranking to ‘good’.

Manager Stacey Bone said: “I’m very proud of my staff. They have worked really hard. We have come a long way in a short space of time.”

And after being described by the education watchdog as ‘enthusiastic and ambitious’, Mrs Bone now has the top ranking of ‘outstanding’ in her sights.

“Our targets are two little recommendations,” she said, while she also praised the ‘really supportive’ parents.

They are to ‘strengthen interactions’ with babies and to ‘model language more accurately’ to boost their development, and to look at more ways of ‘enhancing the quality of teaching to an outstanding level’, inspector Charlotte Bowe said.

In her report, she said staff had ‘made significant improvements to their practice and provision since the last inspection’.

She wrote: “Children develop, flourish, and thrive in a happy, homely, and safe nursery. Staff create exciting learning environments that inspire children to explore, discover, and create. They expertly incorporate children’s interests and home backgrounds, helping them to feel comfortable and at home in their surroundings.”

Ms Bowe said safeguarding is ‘effective’, staff are ‘well-qualified’, and progress for children is ‘good’.

After observing nursery staff and youngsters, she added: “Children are happy, confident, and resilient.

“They are well prepared for their next phase of learning, including school.”