On this page you can read about,
Ofsted is the Government body that assesses the performance of children's nursery schools across the UK. They have a team of inspectors who visit all nursery schools in Gloucestershire about every two to four years.
In the case of Nursery Schools, inspections are unannounced, which means we must keep up our childcare standards all the time to be sure of maintaining our status. Inspections are based on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, which sets the standards for learning, development and care of children from birth to five years old.
At the end of each inspection, the inspector issues an Early Years Register Inspection Report. This details the Day Nursery performance under 19 different aspects, which you can see listed below.
The inspection judgements fall into four grades:
We are very proud to be rated Outstanding at our most recent inspection report, dated September 2011. Last year, 2010-11, only 13 establishments in our category were rated Outstanding in Gloucestershire – out of 410.
In fact, we were graded 1, Outstanding for 18 of the 19 aspects, and 2, Good for only one, the extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles. This we remedied the very next day. On the inspector’s advice, we built an area in our garden where the children can grow herbs and vegetables for use in our kitchens.
Here is a full list of our Ofsted inspection aspects and our performance against them.
Grade 1 is Outstanding, grade 2, Good.
Aspect |
Grade |
The overall effectiveness of the early years provision |
1 |
How well does the setting meet the needs of the children in the Early Years Foundation Stage? |
1 |
The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement |
1 |
The effectiveness of leadership and management of the early years provision |
1 |
The effectiveness of leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage |
1 |
The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement |
1 |
The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources |
1 |
The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity |
1 |
The effectiveness of safeguarding |
1 |
The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement |
1 |
The effectiveness of partnerships |
1 |
The effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents and carers |
1 |
The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage |
1 |
Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage |
1 |
The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning |
1 |
The extent to which children feel safe |
1 |
The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles |
2 |
The extent to which children make a positive contribution |
1 |
The extent to which children develop skills for the future |
1 |
In Gloucestershire, there are 410 day nurseries in our category of “Childcare, non-domestic.” In 2010-11, the last year for which statistics were available, only 3.1% of them were rated Outstanding.
Day Nursery marketing departments have been known to exaggerate their ratings, claiming an overall Outstanding grade when they have achieved it in only one or two aspects. It’s also quite likely that a grade of Outstanding is lost at a subsequent inspection, and the web site and marketing material not updated to reflect this.
Always check a day nursery school’s actual report on Ofsted’s web site. You can find a school's report by entering the name, address or post code. Select the Provider Type, "Childcare on Non-Domestic Premises," from the drop-down. The URN is the nursery's unique reference number. Here is the Ofsted provider search page.
You can check the latest Meadows Day Nursery, Cheltenham, Ofsted report here.
Whitelands Lane, Little Shurdington, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL51 4TX
