Busy Bees Mansfield Vicar Water nursery celebrates ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted

Insectors from education watchdog Ofsted have rated Busy Bees’ Vicar Water Nursery, on Mansfield Road, Clipstone, as outstanding in each category of education quality, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and personal development, for an overall rating of outstanding, the highest grade possible.

Fiona Marriott, centre director, said: “We are over the moon to have received ‘outstanding’ from Ofsted.

“It is incredibly rewarding to receive this acknowledgement which recognises the quality of the care and education that we provide here.

“The team works tirelessly to ensure every area of care and education is to the highest standard and I am so proud of them. They are hugely committed and dedicated to providing a wonderful and nurturing learning environment so that our children have the best start in life.”

In their newly published report, Ofsted said: “Children demonstrate they feel extremely safe and secure in the staff’s warm and nurturing care.”

The report said: “From the moment the children arrive at this well-organised, high-quality nursery, they know their day is going to be full of fun and excitement.

“Older children become deeply engrossed in a wealth of captivating and highly challenging activities and experiences which staff expertly plan in detail.

“Children make exceptional progress and start school with an abundance of knowledge and skills.”

Ofsted praised the nursery’s partnership with parents, saying they ‘feel immensely involved in their child’s learning journey’ and ‘highly praise the regular feedback they receive through the online parent app’.

Nursery staff were praised for providing ‘amazing opportunities for all children to participate in the rich, varied and imaginative learning experiences throughout the nursery’ where they use “inventive ways to ignite children’s thirst for learning and maximise spontaneous learning opportunities’ and ‘naturally weave in plenty of opportunities to extend children’s mathematical understanding’.

The report said: “Staff plan an inspiring curriculum which is informed by their meticulous observations, assessments and wealth of experience and knowledge.”

Safeguarding was deemed effective, while the report also said: “Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities thrive at the nursery.”

It was also mentioned that ‘children have a wonderful connection to their key person, and staff know the individual children exceptionally well’.

To view the full report, see reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/16/EY416514