‘Outstanding’ nursery to expand
LISLE MARSDEN CHILDCARE AWARDED TOP RATING IN EVERY OFSTED INSPECTION CATEGORY
A GRIMSBY nursery is set to get bigger after Ofsted rated it as outstanding for its provision to pre-school children.
Lisle Marsden Childcare, in Grimsby, was awarded the top rating in every inspection category in January 2020, just weeks before the pandemic hit.
The setting is now expanding with an extra room to be completed hopefully by September, as well as a new sensory room for children which is already in place.
The expansion will mean they will be able to take 16 more children, aged three to four.
They also hope to have a dedicated area for the after-school club, specifically for older children.
Nursery manager Teresa Spencer said: “It felt amazing to receive the accolade. We believed we were outstanding, but it was a relief to finally know we were.
“The inspection was very gruelling and it was a lot harder to receive an ‘outstanding’ award as they changed the framework criteria shortly before they came to us.
“If I’m honest, we didn’t think we’d got it at the time so it was a nice surprise when we were told.” The nursery remained open throughout the pandemic, initially providing childcare to just key workers and vulnerable children. Staff have also adapted how they work to adhere to Covid safety rules. Teresa said: “”We’ve made changes to make sure we stay Covid secure, like stopping parents from coming into the school and that’s
been the case for around 14 months now. When the kids are here it’s easier as, with Government guidelines, they don’t have to socially distance and they can just stay in their bubbles. The kids stay in their room and have allocated space at play time to make it as safe as possible.
“We are constantly worried that we’re not doing enough and it is very stressful. Thankfully, we’ve only had one isolated case so we’ve been lucky in that sense. The worst part is that we haven’t been able to properly celebrate the Ofsted result.”
Kelly Revell, learning and development leader added: “We’re a really good team who know the children and what they need and can plan with their interests in mind. “We’ve kept the same team throughout Covid and have been constantly evaluating and improving what we do.”