Children have ‘sense of belonging’, says Ofsted, about Northampton nursery graded ‘good’

A Northampton nursery that was previously graded ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted has received a ‘good’ rating following its latest inspection.

Acorn Child Care at Headlands Primary School in Bushland Road was visited by inspectors on August 10, 2022 and was rated ‘good’ in all areas in a report published this week.

The report said: “When children arrive at this busy nursery, they receive a warm cheery welcome from the staff.

“Children develop a sense of belonging and have secure attachments to their key people. All children, including babies, separate easily from their parents.”

Inspectors described how two-year-olds greet staff in the Bluebells room, exclaiming: “We’ve missed you,” and four-year-olds are keen to explore outside in the Forest School.

Staff were commended for planning activities around children’s interests and experiences from home, which inspectors said enables smooth transitions between nursery rooms and helps children to settle quickly.

Nursery staff told inspectors that Acorn Child Care is a good place to work and they feel their manager has high regard for their wellbeing.

The Ofsted report said the children there enjoy being active and show a positive can-do attitude towards learning. Inspectors found that children are able to confidently solve problems like balancing on a rope ladder and navigating how to get back down once reaching the top and stacking blocks.

Nursery staff were praised for promoting children’s communication and language skills by telling stories, singing songs and playing games.

The Ofsted report noted how familiar materials - like water, sand and dough - are used to engage children’s curiosity. For example, children use hammers to break ice cubes to find treasure inside or melt them in warm water.

Inspectors described how four-year-olds talk about holidays and the different languages they know. They all became excited to discover they know the French word for hello and confidently went on to talk about other countries they have visited.

The report stated that children enjoy playing and learning together. Two-year-olds delight in lying on the floor with staff to share stories and musical books, babies splash about in water trays together and children laugh and join in when staff sing to them after lunch.

An Ofsted inspector said: “Children develop positive relationships with one another and as a result, their emotional well-being is supported and they feel safe and secure.”

Inspectors said that parents spoke very highly about both their own and children’s experiences at the nursery and shared that they receive good quality verbal and electronic feedback about their children’s learning.

The report said: “Parents feel that the manager and staff go 'above and beyond' to meet the needs of the children. They are confident that their children are safe and are very well cared for.”

In order for the nursery to return to their ‘outstanding’ grade, Ofsted has advised staff to stop using informal language when talking to babies as this limits their exposure to correctly spoken English.

Ofsted said that staff also need to strengthen their management of busy activities as they sometimes miss opportunities to teach children how to use play equipment appropriately.

During this inspection, there were 55 children on roll. At Acorn Child Care’s previous inspection in May 2016, it were graded ‘outstanding’.

You can read the full Ofsted report here.