‘Outstanding’ Northampton nursery praised for ‘skillful staff’ in glowing Ofsted report

Kiddi Caru Nursery, situated in Grange Park, has been graded ‘outstanding’ in all areas in their latest Ofsted inspection.

Inspectors paid the nursery a visit on August 23 and, in a report published last week, said: “Throughout the nursery, children are happy, inquisitive and enthusiastic learners.”

The report describes how babies listen intently to songs as they sign key words, older children make “potions” with water, slices and petals and how younger children stick a variety of objects to a board to make one big colourful creation.

According to the Ofsted report, children “enjoy” the garden and find comfortable shaded spots to sit quietly with staff when they need to relax. Babies have their own garden area to help them develop an awareness of their surroundings at a pace suited to their own needs.

Inspectors found that the nursery’s curriculum provides a “clear and consistent” approach to teaching and learning.

The education watchdog also praised the nursery for helping children to foster a passion for books from an early age by encouraging them to read books together and discuss the stories and characters.

An Ofsted inspector said: “Children thrive in the nursery and make excellent progress in their learning and development.

“The highly receptive and skilled staff tap into what children are interested in and make the most of opportunities to build on what children already know and remember.”

Ofsted commended management for having high expectations of their staff and having supervision meetings with them to allow staff to fine tune their skills and make continual improvements and adaptations to the nursery as children’s needs change.

For instance, staff transformed a room dedicated to sand, clay and other materials to a room to cook and experiment with food to enable children to learn in a new and memorable way.

Nursery staff have been praised for helping children to become confident speakers and listeners by asking questions about what children see and do and for promoting children’s emotional wellbeing by helping them to practice yoga and self-regulate their feelings.

The report said: “When children are upset, the caring and nurturing staff comfort and support them.

“Children quickly build strong, trusting bonds with their key person and other staff, which is demonstrated through the deep respect for others that runs throughout the nursery.”

Inspectors applauded staff for being able to skillfully judge when to step back to allow children to work things out through trial and error, helping them to build resilience and confidence to become “highly proficient independent learners.”Kiddi Caru nursery shares information with parents in a variety of ways - face to face, open evenings, secure apps and newsletters. Parents are additionally able to take away resources - like library books and activity packs - to support their children’s hunger to learn and discover at home.

There were 124 children on roll at Kiddi Caru Nursery at the time of this inspection. The nursery, graded ‘good’ at its previous Ofsted inspection in July 2015, has now been graded full marks by the education watchdog.

Read the full Ofsted report here.