Ofsted has praised team members at a Hertfordshire nursery for creating “a warm and welcoming environment where all children feel safe and secure,” following an inspection.
The official report describes the culture at Partou Ware Day Nursery and Pre-school as “highly-inclusive” where “all children thrive and receive superb support.”
Ofsted recently changed the way early years settings are graded, replacing the previous single-word judgement with a renewed framework that focuses on safeguarding and a broad range of evaluation areas: inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children’s welfare and wellbeing; and leadership and governance.
Safeguarding standards at Partou Ware were deemed to be ‘met’ with the setting achieving ‘strong standard’ for inclusion and ‘expected standard’ across all other evaluation areas.
Partou Ware Day Nursery and Pre-School has won praise from Ofsted following an inspection
The Ofsted inspector notes that children attending the nursery “progress well from their starting points.” They write: “Children demonstrate increasing independence in managing tasks for themselves, as they move through the nursery. Their communication skills develop well, and they successfully communicate with others, in a variety of ways. Children with barriers to their learning receive effective support to make progress.”
The report adds: “All children enjoy their time at the nursery and are well prepared for their move on to school. This is thanks to a well-constructed curriculum that is tailored to meet the individual needs of children. Leaders have secure oversight of the nursery and passionately advocate for every child to ensure that they can access the full curriculum.”
The approach taken by Partou Ware team members with responsibility for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is positively highlighted, with the inspector observing that they “passionately share their knowledge and expertise with the wider staff team.” The report states: “This makes a clear difference to the knowledge and skills of staff, who consistently provide highly focused support for children who face barriers to their learning.”
And leaders at the setting are described as having “a seamless flow of conversation with families and external professionals.” The inspector observes: “Timely and robust assessments inform appropriate support for all children, ensuring they access the education to which they are entitled. Children are at the heart of decisions made and leaders carefully consider children's attendance patterns to ensure they make the most of their time at nursery.”
Located on Park Road, Partou Ware is a purpose-built day nursery and pre-school that has been refurbished and re-equipped to the highest standards.
It has four individual rooms tailored to each age and stage of children’s development: babies, toddlers, kindergarten and pre-school. These rooms are neutrally decorated and well-resourced to encourage children’s imagination to take centre stage in harmony with Partou’s child-led early years curriculum.
Each age group room has access to an individual garden with state-of-the-art outdoor facilities where children can run, play and express themselves freely.
Jade Spalding, Partou Ware Nursery Manager, said: “It is a really positive report which underlines the team’s commitment to the children’s wellbeing and personal development as they set out on their learning journey.
“The inspector draws particular attention to our efforts to empower the children to become independent, alongside our close partnership work with families to ensure we are addressing individual needs.
"I am proud of my team and delighted that they are the subject of such worthy praise from Ofsted.”
Kirsty Jackson, Partou Co-Managing Director, said: “Congratulations to Jade and everyone involved at Partou Ware.
“The team’s dedication to each and every detail of provision shines through in the report.”