Telford day nursery rated 'Outstanding' by Ofsted inspectors

Staff at ABC Day Nursery in Telford are celebrating after Ofsted inspectors rated their Lightmoor site 'Outstanding' just weeks after their site at Hoo at Preston upon the Weald Moors was also given the highest Ofsted rating.

It is the second time ABC Lightmoor has received the Outstanding rating - which means it has remained Outstanding since it first opened its doors in 2012. After the visit to ABC Lightmoor, inspectors said they experienced “a highly stimulating environment provided by staff."

ABC Hoo also maintained its impressive record by receiving an Outstanding report again just a few weeks ago.

The ABC Day Nursery chain, has two other nurseries in Telford, at Hollinswood and Hadley - both are also rated Ofsted Outstanding.

ABC Day Nursery was the first nursery group in the county to gain national accreditation from the Curiosity Approach, a programme which concentrates the imagination and focus of children on real objects, how they feel and act.

Owner Penny Hustwick said: “The latest Ofsted report is more excellent news for ABC and we are delighted to retain our Outstanding rating at Lightmoor. It’s a tribute to the efforts of our staff and I must also thank our children and their parents for playing their part in our success.

“I was pleased the report highlighted our weekly forest school for praise, our tranquil and welcoming environment and how happy our children are - that is extremely important to us. We have worked hard to gain and maintain our excellent reputation across our four sites and this is reflected by the consistently high level of interest we have for places.”

The Ofsted report said: “The management team provides training for all staff to learn about new approaches to children’s learning. This provides the expert knowledge they need to effectively plan for children. Staff provide a highly stimulating environment that is inspired by natural and recycled materials and incorporates children’s interests.

“Staff work hard to provide a tranquil and welcoming environment. This helps parents and children to feel extremely relaxed as they enter the nursery and develop exemplary relationships with staff.

“All staff are responsive to children’s needs. They offer reassurance, encouraging smiles and cuddles when needed. They consistently chat to the children as they play alongside them. Children are extremely happy, self-assured and continually interact with each other and staff.

“The trained forest school leader visits nursery each week, she, along with staff supervise older children exceptionally well as they experience optimum challenge and manage risks for themselves in a woodland environment. For example, older children play in the stream, build and use their own mud slides, balance on logs and cook bread on a real fire.

“The management team expertly analyses the progress of individual and specific groups of children. It also makes sure each member of staff’s practice is rigorously monitored and any issues are identified and planned for. All staff have very high expectations of what each child can achieve and use consistently high teaching skills to help them accomplish this.

“They also provide children with exceptional opportunities to gain an understanding of people and communities beyond their immediate experience. For example, staff take children to visit elderly residents in their care homes where they sing for them and do various activities together.”