Ofsted orders improvements at Long Ashton nursery

A nursery in Long Ashton has been told to improve this month following its latest Ofsted inspection.

Apple Tree Day Care Nursery, in Wild Country Lane, was visited by the education watchdog in February.

Inspectors said staff do not ‘pay enough attention to preparing activities or organising daily routines’ while there are also ‘inconsistencies in the quality of teaching’ meaning children ‘are not achieving their full potential’.

The nursery though believes many positive aspects were overlooked.

Ofsted’s report says: “The management team has recently implemented a range of procedures to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the nursery. However, these are in early stages and actions to drive improvement are not yet fully effective.

“Consequently, there are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and children are not achieving their full potential.

“Staff have identified that children should be more independent at meal times.

“However, they do not ensure that appropriate resources are readily available to enable this to happen.

“Children struggle to pour drinks from large, heavy jugs and serve their food using long-handled, large serving spoons.”

But the report adds parents feel ‘well-informed’ about their child’s progress while staff’s safeguarding knowledge is ‘effective’.

Nursery co-owner, Andy Garner, said: “We felt the inspector failed to include many positive attributes discussed with them at the time of the inspection.

“However, as a forward-thinking organisation we have taken the views of the inspector on board and hence the improvements required have been quickly addressed.”