Northampton pre-school ‘pleased’ after jumping from ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted rating to ‘good’ in all areas

A Northampton nursery is celebrating its jump from a ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted rating to ‘good’ in all areas.

Little Barn Owls Preschool, located in the Lings Forum Leisure Centre in Weston Favell, has been described as a place where “children show confidence, a sense of belonging and well-being” following an inspection in June.

Sharing the good news on Facebook, the pre-school posted: “Our recent OFSTED report has now been published…. Pleased with our result of GOOD in all areas!”

Ofsted had high praise for “caring” staff, who work closely with all parents and successfully adapt activities to meet the needs of all children. They also give “gentle but clear” reminders to children on how to share, consider others’ feelings and work together.

Staff at the nursery were additionally commended for introducing new language and vocabulary to children as they play and providing encouragement, enabling children to become “confident” and “independent.”

“Parents state they are happy with the pre-school,” the Ofsted report read, “They comment on how well staff meet their children's individual needs.”

Children at the nursery have daily opportunities to play outside and staff take them to Weston Favell Shopping Centre to buy fruit and vegetables and see what happens at the hairdresser’s salon.

Since Little Barn Owls Preschool’s last inspection in June 2022 - which saw them graded as ‘requires improvement’ - the manager and staff have taken “positive steps” to address the actions raised, according to Ofsted inspector Melanie Eastwell.

Staff have completed training about interactions with children and the manager has improved the coaching she provides for staff, which has improved the quality of education children receive, says Ofsted.To improve to ‘outstanding’, Ofsted says the nursery needs to develop staff’s teaching of communication to support children’s conversational skills further and they need to improve the organisation of larger group activities.

Some local nurseries - including Favours Day Nursery in Moulton and Whiz Kids Dallington - have spoken out against Ofsted, claiming their approach to inspections is “flawed” as reports are just a “snapshot” of the few hours inspectors are onsite and does not accurately reflect the true standard of a setting.

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Read the full Ofsted report for Little Barn Owls Preschool here.