Nursery ‘over the moon’ with ‘good’ Ofsted rating
A nursery in a Wearside village is celebrating after being rated ‘Good’ by education watchdogs.
The Sunshine Nursery, based in Bold on CommunicationAssociation, in New Road, Boldon Colliery, was given the rating in all areas inspected by Ofsted – overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.
Nursery manager, Lisa Leyden manager, said :“I am over the moon with our outcome and delighted that the inspector noticed that our children ‘bound along the corridor on arrival, showing how happy they are to join their friends’.
“Our ethos is for the children to learn, laugh and make friends and this really showed through in the report.”
She added: “The Sunshine nursery has always been a home away from home and the inspector also commented on the “warm relationships” between staff and children help children to develop a strong sense of belonging.”
In January, Ms Leydon changed the name of the nursery from Sunshine Playgroup to Sunshine Nursery to reflect the level of training all of the staff have.
She added: “I am proud that all the staff have worked together to gain the grade we deserved. The inspector also commented on how children with special educational needs ‘make remarkable progress and achieve well.
"We always encourage a strong relationship between parents, carers and staff members.
The report says: “Staff are vigilant and ensure that children are happy and well cared for. Routines flow with children's needs and are sensitive to children who can be overwhelmed by too much noise or activity.
"Staff give careful thought to preparing children for their move on to school, with older children being encouraged to become increasingly independent."
“Children also learn about the importance of healthy lifestyles, with staff encouraging parents to provide healthy packed lunches and also use mealtimes as an opportunity to discuss good nutrition with the children.
“Parents speak very highly of the playgroup and its staff and particularly appreciate how quickly staff respond to information that they share about their children.”