Dear Parents and Carers,
It is so fantastic to write to you with some lovely news at last! It been a tricky few years!
As many of you will know we are subject to 2 different Ofsted inspections, one for our Nursery Education (which now also includes our provision for 2-year-olds) and another for the day care provision we provide for our Under 2s.
Last month we had a visit from Ofsted to inspect the quality of our daycare provision and I’m delighted to share with you that we were judged to be OUTSTANDING in all areas.
I attach the full report, but here is just a flavour of it:
‘The children thrive in this exceptional nursery which provides high-quality care for children under 2 years. The highly motivated and caring staff provide an extremely nurturing and engaging environment for children to play and explore’
We particularly liked the way Ofsted recognised that we ’tailor the daily care routines to the needs of each individual child and that we ‘use an invitational approach to engage children in play and highly value the importance of their interactions from a very young age’.
I am always proud of our amazing team, who work SO brilliantly and SO tirelessly to provide the very best care and learning experiences to your children, despite the sometimes very difficult circumstances they face on a day-to-day basis. In fact, I am in awe of them. To have their exceptional skill and commitment recognised by Ofsted is very satisfying.
On the day of the inspection, the focus was very much on our two baby room teams, who as ever modelled the most wonderful practice and such powerful and professional knowledge about their individual children. The judgement was VERY well deserved.
I would also like to mention though, all the other staff and teams who contribute to these judgements, ensuring our practice at St Pauls is continually outstanding. These include the admin and site team, the nursery school and 2s team, and the extended leadership team who lead brilliantly on safeguarding, inclusion and Early Years pedagogy.
Thank you too to our committed and long-serving board of Governors, who have had to be so agile and creative as we have worked through the ‘covid effect’ recently.
Our last school inspection was in Feb 2019, so we will be expecting Ofsted again at the start of 2024, but I can assure you, as ever, that St Pauls will continue to respond to the needs of our children and community, and draw from any recent research or national changes in guidance or direction to ensure we continuously strive for outstanding in all we do.
Thank you for your continued support, and for sharing your incredible children with us. It really is such a privilege to do this job!
Kind Regards
Lucy Driver
Headteacher
