By Grace Cooper
Little Owls Nursery in Burley Park has received a ‘good’ rating in all areas by Ofsted in its first inspection since the Covid-19 pandemic.
An Ofsted inspector said that the children were “happy and settled”, which showed that they feel “safe and secure”. The inspector also said the staff appear to “understand the needs of the children and helped them to quickly settle and build positive relationships”.
The inspector also reported that staff are good at communicating behaviour expectations to the children with them mostly showing good responses to this.
When considering what Little Owls Nursery does best, the inspector highlighted an ambitious curriculum and staff’s consideration of the children’s background and experiences. The inspector also says staff do well in supporting the children’s communication, and bilingual staff support the children who speak English as a second language.
There is also good support for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The nursery also offers further activities and experiences for children that receive early years pupil premium funding. This extra funding is paid to childcare services to support children in or adopted from care or children with parents that receive benefits. They help the children’s development with creative activities and experiences, so they are not at a disadvantage to other children.
Safeguarding arrangements at the nursery are also reported as good, with staff being well trained in reporting any issues. The inspector also says there is clear support for staff’s health and wellbeing from management.
Little Owls Nursery appears to have a good reputation in the area, with the inspector saying “parents speak highly of the nursery and its staff team” and have seen their children develop skills whilst being at the nursery.
The inspector reports two areas for the nursery to improve, saying that performance management processes have not yet been fully put in place so teaching skills across the staff is not always consistent.
The inspector also says that staff should be more confident in helping the children learn early maths concepts as these ideas are not always introduced.
The nursery was rated ‘outstanding’ at its last inspection in 2018.
The full report can be read here.
