Shining Stars Day Nursery: Ofsted's praise for Halifax nursery with 'rich environment' for children

An inspector from the education and early years watchdog has praised Shining Stars Day Nursery on Illingworth Road, Illingworth, and given it the rating of ‘Good’.

In her report, she said babies form close relationships with staff and demonstrate that they feel safe and secure in their care, and staff gather detailed information from parents when children first start.

She also said staff “work hard to create a rich environment for children” children there settle quickly.

"The manager and staff design their curriculum to support all children to prepare for what they need to learn next,” she said.

"There is a strong focus on promoting children's personal, social and emotional development.”

The inspector praised the nursery manager for evaluating the nursery well and supporting staff.

She also said children behave well, staff are good role models and children learn to develop good self-care skills from a young age.

"Parents are complimentary about the care that their children receive and the arrangements for safeguarding are effective,” she added.

She suggested children's understanding of how their own feelings and behaviours can impact on others could be enhanced and transition arrangements thorough the day could be better embedded.

Paul Wanklyn, Company Director at Shining Stars, said: “We are all delighted with the content of the report.

"The report highlights the great bond between the staff team and the children, as well as the nursery to home relationships.

"Our parents and carers provided great feedback to the inspector which, along with the inspector’s own observations of the children at play, allowed her to build a great picture of what it is like to be a child and family of our nursery.

"It is great when good work is acknowledged by the regulator of your sector. The depth of detail in the report reflects the efforts that the staff team put into the daily play activities and learning of each child who attends.

"The outcome on the day was accomplished by the hard work of the management and staff team who were composed, focussed and diligent throughout the day of the inspection and have been throughout the period since our last inspection.”