Luton nursery celebrates 'good' Ofsted rating

The nursery, in Lucas Gardens, received its inspection on Thursday, October 17, and was rated as ‘Good’ in all four areas of inspection: Effectiveness of the leadership and management; Quality of teaching, learning and assessment; Personal development, behaviour and welfare; and Outcomes for children.

Inspection activities included the inspector observing areas used by the children, inside and outside, and engagement between the staff and the children.

Comments from the report included: "The manager has developed a motivated and enthusiastic team of staff who all demonstrate their love of working with children. She has raised staff morale considerably since she began working at the nursery a few months ago.

"Staff praise her leadership and feel well supported. They feel able to share any concerns they have and know that any suggestions they make to improve the nursery will be listened to.

"Overall, children are curious and engaged learners. Babies press their faces up to the glass in their door and make faces at people they recognise.

"They smile and chatter to adults in the room and are learning to play alongside other children. They enjoy playing indoors and outdoors and benefit from a wide range of resources that help them explore their surroundings.

"Staff help babies look in mirrors and copy the faces they make, to discover more about their bodies and learn about their reflections.

"Staff encourage all children to develop a love of books. Children explore stories with staff, often cuddling with them as they read. Staff support children’s language development using books. For example, they encourage children to name the foods in ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’.

"Staff work closely with parents and the manager has developed effective ways to involve parents in their learning. Parents enjoy using 'home learning bags' provided by the nursery and bring photographs in of them doing suggested activities with their children. This helps improve consistency of learning between home and the nursery"

Nursery Manager Fiona Igori said: “I am delighted that the hard work and dedication shown by my team each and every day has been recognised by Ofsted in this positive report

"We will continue to deliver exceptional care and education to our families; who we pride ourselves on working very closely with.”

The report also included points the nursery can do to improve, it said: "To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should develop the management of transition times in the pre-school room to ensure that children remain well engaged and occupied during these times, and support staff to maintain appropriate noise levels in the 'toddler two' room to enable children to remain deeply involved in their chosen activities."