Strong leadership and a nurturing environment have earned praise from Ofsted for a Harrogate day nursery.

Busy Bees on South Drive was rated ‘good’ in all areas in a report published at the end of December.

In her report, inspector Jan Batchelor said:

“Children are greeted warmly by staff when they arrive at the nursery. They are keen to go and find their friends.

“There are plenty of cuddles and reassurance for children who are a little unsettled or new to the nursery. Throughout the day, children are treated with the utmost kindness, care and respect by the nurturing staff team.”

Ms Batchelor praised the many opportunities for learning on offer at the nursery. Both indoor and outdoor spaces were found to be supportive of development, with staff helping children to build on their knowledge and understanding in each age group.

She said there was a “good balance” between staff-led activities and time for independent play.

The inspection, which took place in November, found two areas for improvement, including giving more consistent messaging about healthy eating to ensure children understood it.

It also found children missed out on learning time when they had to wait for meals to be served or for others to take off their coats and wash their hands after being outside.

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Ms Batchelor added:

“Staff’s skilful interactions with children make learning fun and meaningful. They use their knowledge of individual children’s interests to set up effective learning opportunities.

“Staff introduce new vocabulary as children play. They question the children to help develop their thinking skills. Children are always given time to respond.

“Where children are not making as much progress as others, additional support is put in place. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to ensure that children’s needs are being met as effectively as possible.”

Busy Bees on South Drive – formerly known as Kindercare and still registered under that name with Ofsted – was previously rated ‘outstanding’ in its last inspection, in late 2018. However, Ofsted has since changed its inspection framework for childcare and education settings, meaning they have to meet much higher criteria in order to achieve the top rating.

Responding to the latest report, South Drive centre director Danni Catton said:

“Overall, we felt the inspection went very well and it was great to read that the report highlighted our commitment to the children’s learning and safety, and our effective partnerships with parents. Our team is committed to giving children the best start in life and we continuously strive to ensure the needs of children are being met at all times.

“We are pleased with our ‘good’ rating – we will take the inspectors’ improvements into consideration, and we will continue to work towards achieving an ‘outstanding’.”