The nursery care and education provided at Islington’s Hornsey Road Children’s Centre has been praised and rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted.
Inspectors described Mitford Under Fives Nursery - which forms part of the children's centre - as a place where children develop well and build ‘skills for the future such as communication, language and literacy through play and daily routines.’
Children attending Hornsey Road are ‘happy and confident’ and develop ‘a strong sense of belonging as they feel included and welcomed’ at the nursery. The children are consistently praised and encouraged by the staff, which means they develop ‘high levels of self-esteem’ and their behaviour is good.
Ofsted praised the ‘effective management team’ at Hornsey Road and noted that a ‘high proportion of staff are exceptionally well qualified in early years’. Deborah Kaplinsky, Chair of Mitford under Five's Board of Trustees, said:
"We very much welcome the many positive comments in this Ofsted report. Congratulations to the nursery staff team. Mitford Under Five's is a long standing community based organisation providing high quality nursery provision alongside other services for local children and families."
Children at the nursery have ‘good opportunities to be physically active'. They enjoy using the soft play room and are often taken on visits to parks. A ‘welcoming environment offers plenty of variety and interest’ and there’s a good balance of free play and planned activities that make the most of the space both indoors and out.
Islington Council’s executive member for children and young people, Cllr Paula Belford said:
“I recently visited Hornsey Road Children’s Centre at their official opening and was really impressed, so this praise from Ofsted doesn’t surprise me. The nursery is a very warm and welcoming place for young children to learn and play. The centre has only been in the new building for just over a year, but in that time it has already had a really positive impact on local families."
Each child’s individual needs are well catered for at Hornsey Road, with ‘a wide variety of resources and activities to meet the needs of both boys and girls’. Staff teach children about diversity, and children ‘learn and develop respect for themselves and each other.’
Good relationships exist not only between children and staff at Hornsey Road, but also with parents. The parents are kept well informed of their child’s development with regular meetings and are encouraged to get involved in their child’s learning.
Ofsted concluded that nursery ‘provides effectively for children’ and that since the management team has a ‘clear vision’ for the nursery, Hornsey Road also has ‘the capacity to continually improve.’
ENDS
Page Last Updated: 09 November 2009