A VILLAGE nursery which was previously judged as ‘inadequate’ by education watchdogs is celebrating after receiving a ‘good’ report.
The Scout HQ site of Branston Pre-School, in Main Street, blamed its previous Ofsted grade on a ‘paperwork error’ after it had not kept paper copies of staff Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks on the premises.
However, it was able to produce them the next day, with Jane Musgrove, the pre-school manager, saying it wasn’t anything to do with the children’s safety - ‘merely a paperwork error’.
Following its recent inspection in December, the pre-school was told it had narrowly missed out on the ‘outstanding’ grade because ‘adults do not always extend opportunities for children to hold conversations which involve using their home language, or to reflect on what they know and have learned about story sequences.’
However, Ofsted inspector Jayne Rooke said the school now has a ‘good’ report because ‘adults clearly understand how to support children’s learning and development, supporting each child’s progress very well. They plan meaningful and fun learning opportunities, which ignite children’s interest in their play and explorations.’
The report also added that children are development competent skills in the use of everyday technology equipment, saying: “Children show a keen interest in technology, using cameras and computerised equipment competently. They delight in showing how the digital camera works, explaining clearly how to ‘find and delete’ photographs. They confidently organise a group of people together in order to take a picture of their activity, saying ‘cheese’ to add fun and excitement to their inventive play.”
It also mentioned that relationships between adults and children are strong and supportive, and that strong and trusting partnerships with parents, carers and wider community services, have also been established.
The pre-school, which also has a second site based at the village hall, in Clays Lane which has already been judged as ‘good’, have been told it now needs to ‘extend opportunities for children to talk about what they see, hear, think and feel, by encouraging them to draw conclusions about story sequences and by enabling them to use their home language more often.’
Mrs Musgrove said: “We are really happy that we are along with our other site which was judged as good before.
“We have also had lots of support from our quality liaison officer Sharon Bentley.”
The report was made public yesterday.
