Lancaster nursery rated 'Outstanding' by Ofsted

The nursery received its inspection on July 14 and was rated as ‘Outstanding’ in all four areas of inspection: The quality of education; Behaviour and attitudes; Personal development; Leadership and management.

Inspection activities included the inspector observing the quality of education being provided, both indoors and outdoors, as well as assessing the impact this was having on children’s learning.

Bright Horizons is based at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary in Ashton Road.

Comments from the report included:

*The nursery manager is passionate and her enthusiasm for wanting children to achieve at the highest level is evident.

*Staff fully understand the expectations of them. They have regular supervisions and appraisals with targets set, to build on their already outstanding practice.

*Staff well-being is paramount throughout the company who aim to provide a healthy work-life balance for all staff. A recent awards ceremony celebrated the achievements of the nursery and individuals received awards for their work.

*The nursery remained open throughout the Covid-19 pandemic as they cater for predominantly key worker families. The company provided food parcels for staff throughout the pandemic. This was done so staff could fully focus on their roles looking after children.

*Children’s communication and language is promoted tremendously well throughout nursery.

*The nursery is calm and provides lots of opportunities for children to use their communication skills. Babies babble and use gesture when communicating with staff who respond by modelling language to them.

*Toddlers enjoy listening to stories and staff make them feel part of the story when they ask them to predict what will happen next. Preschool children are confident talkers who ask questions and engage in meaningful conversations with staff.

*Excellent partnerships are established between the nursery and parents. Families are encouraged to take books from the nursery lending library to read at home.

*Parents feel they are kept well informed of their child’s development and find the nursery staff provide a wealth of information. Regular newsletters provide information for parents also.

Nursery manager Angelica Perez said: “We are absolutely delighted to have achieved ‘Outstanding’ at our Ofsted inspection in July.

"I am extremely proud of my wonderful, committed and outstanding team for showing their passion and care in providing the best start in life for all our children.

"Each and every day, we always aim to enhance the children's learning and support them to reach their full potential. We encourage them to be confident and give the best of themselves.

"We continue to look for innovative ways to support our fantastic partnership with families to ensure every unique child in our care thrives.”