Ofsted praise Bedford nursery for encouraging children to “get messy”
Inspectors have praised a nursery for ensuring children “explore with their senses” in an Ofsted report.
Monkey Puzzle Bedford, in Shakespeare Road, was awarded a ‘good’ status in all categories, following an inspection in May.
They are: quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management.
Inspectors said: “Children become confident in this nursery, where staff are calm and caring. Staff encourage children to be independent from the youngest ages. Babies have opportunities to feed themselves. Toddlers have a go at putting their shoes on and older children use the toilet independently. Staff offer a lot of specific praise, which helps children behave well.”
They went on to say: “Staff encourage children to explore with their senses and get messy. Babies feel water and sand. Staff encourage them to sprinkle the sand and smell flowers. This helps to meet their natural exploratory impulses.”
The report also praised children for being very well behaved – and managers for setting clear goals.
It found:
Staff feel well supported personally and professionally
Staff know children well – they use accurate assessments and next steps to help children make good progress in their learning
Staff support children's communication and language skills well
Staff effectively support children who speak English as an additional language
However, inspectors also found:
Not all staff deliver high-quality teaching and interactions when working with the children
Monkey Puzzle Bedford caters for over 75 children aged 0 to four. When it was previously inspected in 2022, it received an ‘outstanding’ rating.