Another burst main cuts water supply to parts of Harrogate’s Duchy areaResidential Harrogate road set for lengthy closureHistoric Harrogate house sold to overseas investorsPolice investigate three separate reports of man approaching schoolgirls in HarrogateHarrogate nursery retains ‘good’ rating in new Ofsted report

A children’s nursery in Harrogate has maintained is ‘good’ rating from Ofsted for the third inspection in a row.

Busy Bees on Cornwall Road – registered as Kindercare, a name under which it previously traded – was inspected at the beginning of April.

The report published this week praised the nursery’s positive relationships between staff and children, as well as the support given to children’s language development.

Inspectors said:

“Children learn through an effective balance of adult-led activities and child-initiated play. Staff introduce topics that capture children’s curiosity and support their learning.

“For example, older children are engrossed when they learn about the sinking of the Titanic. Older children then eagerly predict which objects will sink or float in the water tray. Children beam with pride when they succeed.”

The report also highlighted the physical skills developed by children, from crawling, walking and running to using cutlery with confidence.

It praised the work done with different age groups to teach children about other cultures and beliefs. It said children are encouraged to share photographs of their family members to aid discussions about the ways in which people are similar and different.

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The inspection report added:

“Staff establish strong partnerships with parents. There is successful two-way communication between parents and staff.

“Parents say that their children love coming to nursery and make excellent progress, especially in their language and social skills. Parents are full of praise for the friendly and dedicated staff team.”

To further improve the rating, which was ‘good’ across all areas, the report said staff should be given more support to extend their good practice. It said, while there were systems in place to monitor staff performance, supervision sessions had recently become less frequent and less focused on staff development.

 

Stray Views: Harrogate Tesco would be ‘horrendous’ for nearby residents

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

New Tesco would be ‘horrendous’ for nearby residents

We believe that it is not an appropriate or safe location for the supermarket.
Already Skipton Road is extremely busy with traffic and New Park roundabout is quite unsafe at times, due to the high volumes of traffic. The entrance to Tesco would require a roundabout to gain entrance to the store, therefore there would be two roundabouts extremely close together. We would argue that this is dangerous because there is also an entrance to Oak Beck trading estate to contend with (Aldi and B&Q). How would this be safe?
We believe that the level of traffic would increase dramatically on the roads if Tesco is built, adding to pollution in the area.
On the planned site there is an abundance of wildlife; bats, badgers, newts, hedgehogs and owls to name a few. A lot of trees would need to be cut down for this development, which would be a disaster for Harrogate with its increasing population. Green space and wildlife should be cherished.
Without our knowledge Tesco held a consultation process with the public and 70% were in favour. Why were the local residents (especially on Electric Avenue) not directly consulted and encouraged to take part? In Tesco’s application they claim that they notified local businesses in the area and local residents by distributing leaflets. We received nothing!
The majority of residents I have chatted to on Electric Avenue strongly object to Tesco and the delivery road located directly behind our properties. This would be horrendous for us, it would bring noise and air pollution to our area and disturb our peace.
Jennifer Dance, Electric Avenue, Harrogate 

Proud to be Harrogate, not London

I note that a new fitness studio wants it to bring ‘a London feel’ to Harrogate and recall that the restaurants associated with The Everyman Cinema was also intended to be ‘London-centric’, whatever that means.

Can someone enlighten me regarding this strange desire to be like London when Harrogate, and indeed Yorkshire as a whole, has so much distinctive to offer? It seems to me that this desire to be like London is a strange business proposition. Of course I wish all the local businesses concerned well, despite my feelings about their PR.

Tim Hurren, Harrogate

Speed limits should be reduced

I read your article about North Yorkshire County Council refusing a blanket introduction of a 20mph speed limit in built-up areas.

The council’s executive member for access, Cllr Don Mackenzie, said the county’s roads were becoming safer and safer, and 20mph zones should only be created on a case-by-case basis.

I have tried for years to get the speed limits reduced. I believe Councillor Mackenzie does not listen to anyone — where does he get his information from on safer roads? Cars around Harrogate are now more powerful and speeding is paramount throughout the town and on country roads. When is someone going to challenge this man and when will he listen?

Mike Fisher, Cornwall Road, Harrogate

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