Nursery building '˜strong foundations' to improve

Horsham Day Nursery, in Chichester Terrace, was inspected in August, six months after the ‘inadequate’ rating, and was judged ‘requires improvement’ with some ‘good’ points.

In her report, inspector Cheryl Walker said: “There have been major staffing changes since the last inspection. The new team is now working together to build strong foundations on which to further improve the setting.”

Ms Walker also noted improvements in the quality of teaching and said the children made “steady progress” during their time at the Day Nursery.

She recognised the action plans put in place by the nursery and said they were “beginning to show improvements”, though it was “too soon to see their full impact yet”.

Nursery director Bill Pointon said: “We feel that the report reflects the significant differences between the nursery now and last year and shows the hard work and effort put in by the new management and great team we have now.”

Mr Pointon and his team were particularly pleased to have been rated ‘good’ when it came to the children’s personal development, behaviour and welfare.

Ms Walker highlighted a couple of requirements that needed to be addressed by the end of the month – the monitoring of teaching to ensure it was consistently good or better, and a review of the environment for younger children at mealtimes.

Mr Pointon said: “Those issues were addressed very quickly and entered onto our self-evaluation form for Ofsted to see and to observe our continuous monitoring of them in the future to ensure they do not re-occur.”

Since the last inspection, the team has worked to develop a “great partnership” with parents, including the formation of a parents’ forum. Mr Pointon said he and the staff “truly appreciate the feedback and support they give”.

With another inspection due within 12 months, and management and staff working to “drive change and improvements”, Mr Pointon added: “I am certain that we should certainly get a ‘good’ across the board next time, hopefully a couple of outstanding grades in our strong areas!”

To find out more about the nursery, log on to www.horshamdaynursery.co.uk or find them on Facebook.

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