A nursery which left a four-year-old boy at London Zoo has been recently rated as "good" in its latest Ofsted inspection boosting it from its previous rating of ‘inadequate’.
KidStuff Day Nursery, in Borehamwood, was subjected to an investigation by the governing body after staff left a four-year-old boy at London Zoo.
In September, the nursery was graded as inadequate and Ofsted inspected the nursery following an investigation into the serious incident.
However, the nursery, which has 96 children aged from three months to five, has now jumped from an inadequate rating to good – the second highest rating given by the inspectors.
Malcolm Epstein, the owner of KidStuff Day Nursery, said: “It speaks for itself really.
“The rating the nursery inadequate to good speaks for itself.”
Ofsted launched an investigation after the child was left at the zoo on September 9 during a trip.
It was not until the coach arrived back at the nursery 35 minutes after leaving the tourist attraction.
In the latest report, the inspectors found the staff used purposeful teaching methods and provided a range of experiences meeting the children’s individual needs.
They also found the staff completed comprehensive risk assessments and plan any outings carefully by recording all preparations for any trip in detail to show the steps they have taken.
The inspectors found this helps the staff minimise any risk to the children.
The Staff also contribute towards their own self-evaluation and there are detailed action plans to aid ongoing improvement, while new employees were well-supported in mentoring programmes.
The staff are trained to know the signs and symptoms that cause concern about children’s welfare and how to report them.
New staff were also found to be supported well through mentoring arrangements and a detailed probation agenda.
Personal development and behaviour at the nursery was also praised by the inspectors who said staff embrace opportunities to explore a range of cultures and languages with children.
The report also said the manager and her team have made significant improvements since the last inspection and have addressed actions and recommendations made previously.
Some of these areas included the quality of practice was reported as inadequate along with staff not being able to manage children’s behaviour and struggled to engage with them.
In all the four areas where Ofsted report, the nursery was rated good in all of them compared to the previous inadequate rating.
The report did give suggestions of the reasons why the nursery is not outstanding yet.
The inspectors said the staff do not work as effectively as possible with all other settings that children attend to ensure continuity in their learning and enhance progress further.
They also found the staff do not always make the best use of information from parents about their children’s achievements at home, in order to enrich the planning of activities so that they make rapid progress.
Also, on occasions the environment and activities in the baby room are not stimulating enough to keep all children highly motivated and interested.
The inspectors observed the quality of teaching during activities indoors and outdoors and assessed the impact this has on children’s learning.
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