Radcliffe nursery told to improve after Ofsted inspection

Mary Kelly’s Rascals Day Nursery on Ainsworth Road has been given a rating of "requires improvement" by education watchdog Ofsted following a visit in April.

The new ranking is a fall from the "good" rating it was given at its previous inspection in 2018.

The latest report found that the nursery's quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management all required improvement.

Children are not always challenged in their learning, the report found.

It stated: “Staff are not always deployed effectively to meet the needs of all children.

“They do not plan purposeful learning opportunities for all children to ignite their curiosity and build on prior learning.

"Furthermore, staff are not always close by to engage in high-quality interactions with all children.

"Some children become distracted. Therefore, at times, this has an impact on their behaviour and attitude to learning."

There were some positive points the regulator discovered though.

According to inspectors, most children arrive happy and pleased to see staff and the nursery has put into place good measures like sanitising before entering playrooms in response to the pandemic.

The early years setting was praised for its staff developing the children’s love of reading and teaching them how to live a healthy lifestyle.

Regarding safeguarding, all arrangements in place were classed as effective.

The report added: “Leaders carry out regular checks of staff to ensure they are suitable to work with children.

“Leaders and staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the possible signs and symptoms of abuse.

“They know how to correctly report concerns about the welfare of children.”

Following the inspection, Ofsted said the nursery needed to "ensure staff are deployed effectively to meet the needs of all children" to meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and Childcare Register.

To achieve this, the nursery was also ordered to "ensure there are effective systems in place to support and monitor staff performance to make sure all children receive high quality care and education".

The nursery has been contacted for a comment about the inspection.