We’re delighted to announce that Little Acorns Nursery, Hindley Green, has passed its first Ofsted Inspection — and with flying colours! The Ofsted Report was published recently following the Ofsted inspection in late April this year. It is our first since we took over the nursery from Kate’s Kindergarten in 2022. So, it’s now official — Little Acorns Nursery is a ‘Good Provider’ of childcare and early-years education. Let’s take a look at the Inspector’s findings and some of her lovely comments. We’ll see why the nursery/preschool achieved such consistent, positive feedback and good ratings in every area. Doing so is incredibly important to the children under our care and, of course, to their parents and caregivers.

Great Ofsted Report Ratings for Little Acorns Nursery

Little Acorns Nursery was judged by Ofsted to be ‘Good’ in every category:

Overall effectiveness — Good
The quality of education — Good
Behaviour and attitudes — Good
Personal development — Good
Leadership and management — Good

We’ll cover some more detail and commentary from the Ofsted Inspector below.

Glowing Feedback About What it’s Like Attending the Nursery

Opening comments in the Ofsted Report are particularly positive. Not only are the findings welcomed by nursery staff, who work so hard and so professionally — as evidenced in the report — but they’ll also be welcomed by parents/caregivers of children attending the setting. After all, it’s good to know children are in good hands and that their choice of childcare provider was a good one.

Our High-Quality Staff Positively Impact Children

Here are a few of the comments from the Ofsted Inspector, describing how professional staff are and what it’s like for children who attend the nursery:

“The stable and highly skilled staff team promotes children’s care and learning effectively. Many long-standing relationships help staff to know the needs of the children and their families very well.”

It’s good to note the words, “stable” and “highly skilled” in reference to the staff. Our staff are exactly that and it’s good to see those qualities recognised. More importantly, though, such qualities clearly benefit the children, their parents, and families as a whole.

The Ofsted Report then goes on to describe how, “Staff’s gentle, nurturing approaches” help children to “settle and fully engage in what the nursery has to offer.” That, too, is incredibly important.

“Children arrive confidently and they are ready to play and learn.”

The confidence and enthusiasm to learn extends to babies and toddlers too and Ofsted’s comments make the reason for this clear:

“Babies and toddlers explore with intrigue. They are inspired by items which stimulate their senses and are provided in response to things which specifically interest them. Staff build on children’s interests well to provide meaningful activities which enable them to practise their skills and extend learning further.”

As you can see from the comment above, staff are methodical and strategic in their approach to activities organised for the children. Activities are tailored to each child’s individual interests, making playing, development of skills and learning of new knowledge all come naturally.

Happy Children

The Ofsted inspector recognised that children are happy at the nursery. The nurturing of good social, communication and language skills clearly leads to deep friendships being formed and enjoyable play taking place.

“Children develop firm friendships. They collaborate and have fun together as they play.”

Good Progress for Children with SEND

Ofsted recognised the expertise of our Special Educational Needs Coordinator (‘SENCo’) and provisions for children with special educational needs and disabilities (‘SEND’) in their report:

“The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) successfully uses her comprehensive knowledge of local arrangements for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). She links closely with other supporting professionals, accurately assesses need and identifies precise targets for learning. Through strong relationships with staff, children with SEND progress well”

Good Relationships with Parents

Ofsted recognised that staff have good relationships with children’s parents/caregivers and remarked, in their report, on the cooperation between them:

“Staff work closely with parents right from the start to assess and plan how to meet children’s individual needs.”

Ofsted said that this works particularly well when children have health or medical needs, commenting “Leaders use what parents know to establish specific care plans, training for staff and detailed risk assessments.”

Parents are also encouraged to come “into the nursery to experience the curriculum in action.”

“Parents speak highly of the staff at the nursery and develop high levels of trust.”

Effective Safeguarding Arrangements

Comments in the Ofsted report about safeguarding were particularly positive and confirmed that measures at the setting are effective ones.

“Leaders have ensured that staff are well trained and knowledgeable about matters relating to child protection. They have provided clear procedures for staff to report any concerns that they may have about children’s welfare.”

They went on to confirm that, “Leaders and staff use their strong relationships with parents and other professionals to help ensure that the children and families who need it, get the right support.”

Staff Plan Well for the Future

Ofsted also recognised that leaders and staff plan improvements for the future. In their report, they describe how leaders “plan how they can make the quality of education even better […] working closely with staff to design building improvements that will have the most benefit for the children”.

They also ensure that they too are learning and improving all the time:

“The high priority given to continuing professional development has resulted in a team of many skilled and experienced staff. This has a positive impact on the quality of education for all children, including those who are disadvantaged.”

Full Marks for School Readiness

One of the key goals of any good nursery, preschool or childcare provider is to ensure that every child is prepared, equipped and ready to begin school by the time they leave the early years setting. Little Acorns Nursery’s approach to the curriculum, activities and tailored learning and development plans, ensure this outcome. Ofsted’s comments, in their latest report for Little Acorns Nursery, totally back this up:

“The carefully thought out curriculum helps children to gain the kinds of knowledge and skills they need in readiness for their future move to school.”

Read the Full Ofsted Report

To read it in its entirety, download the Ofsted Report for Little Acorns Nursery, Hindley Green, here (176KB Acrobat PDF file).

A Place for Your Child at our Hindley Green Nursery, near Wigan

If you have a young family that needs high-quality childcare in Hindley Green or close to Wigan and Greater Manchester, we’d love to hear from you. As you can see from the latest Ofsted Report, we offer a wonderful weekday childcare service for babies and children aged up to five. Come and take a look by arranging a free tour of the setting. We’ll show you around and answer any questions that you may have. Be sure to bring along your child and you’ll be able to see how well they fit in!

Little Acorns Nursery offers a great start for little ones and also supports free childcare through Government childcare funding schemes for those who are eligible. Please choose an option below to get started:

Little Acorns is now officially a good nursery & preschool in Hindley Green. We’re located near Wigan, Bickershaw, Leigh, Atherton, Westhoughton, Ince-in-Makerfield, Platt Bridge, Tyldesley, Bolton and Greater Manchester.