South Tyneside nursery celebrates praise from Ofsted thanks to help of insects
Butterflies and bugs have helped a small nursery in South Tyneside win praise from education inspectors.
Staff at Stanley’s at Whitburn and Marsden have been using the insects to create curiosity, motivate and even boost the youngsters’ mathematics skills.
Inspectors discovered youngsters are gaining life insight and boosting their desire to learn by being shown butterflies emerging from their cocoons.
By counting the legs of bugs, the nursery’s eight two and three-year-old learners are increasing their understanding of numbers.
Ofsted also found the tots are benefitting from warm and supportive relationships with staff – and that parents and carers are heavily involved in nursery life.
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The curriculum at the South Tyneside Council-run centre at Whitburn Village Primary School was deemed ‘flexible and personalised to children’s individual needs’.
The positive findings have led Ofsted to give the nursery, one of several Stanley’s centres in the borough, a ‘good’ grading – its third in a row since 2014.
Manager Emma Hartley said: “Stanley’s at Whitburn and Marsden is a lovely community-based nursery.
“The children all make good progress and have good relationships with staff and parents are very supportive.
“All our children deserve the best start in life and the staff all enjoy being part of their journey.”
Ofsted noted that children develop confidence and feel safe at the nursery and show a ‘strong sense of belonging’ and each child’s personal interests are taken into account.
Ofsted also found support for children's language skills is strong and staff speak clearly to them and give them plenty of time to respond.
Staff were praised for amending their language to match children's understanding, boosting their ability to become articulate.
Provision has also been improved through a revamp of the nursery, improving play activities and the nursery's team has undertaken new training to help them understand inclusive practice, and safeguarding is effective.
To improve further, it said children are occasionally unable to fully pursue their interests, because of limited activity times being available.
You can view the full report at: https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50278253.
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