Bole Hill Nursery thanks parents for 'believing in them' after Ofsted visit erases 'unfair' inadequate rating

It has shaken off what it called an “unfair” Inadequate Ofsted rating after a “very difficult six months” – with the support of parents.

Bole Hill Nursery was left reeling in January when inspectors from the education watchdog branded it ‘Inadequate’ in all areas and stripped it of its previous ‘Good’ grading.

The scathing report criticised seemingly every aspect of the nursery and railed against everything from play room conditions, safety, staff training, the relationships between staff and children, the treatment of children who do not speak English as a first language, and hygiene.

But parents didn’t buy it. In the days after, dozens of households contacted The Star to rally behind Bole Hill, saying the report “couldn’t be further from our experience” and decrying the “heartbreaking” report.

Now, the Bole Hill community must be feeling vindicated and ready to put the episode behind them – after a new report published today (June 20) has lifted the nursery back into ‘Good’ in all areas.

“Staff are nurturing and committed to forming strong bonds with children and families…Children are happy and settled at this welcoming nursery. They display a strong sense of belonging and demonstrate that they feel safe and secure,” the report reads.

“Staff working with babies are attentive and caring as they play and interact with the young children. Managers and staff have worked hard to address the actions set at the last inspection…Parents speak highly about the nursery and comment on the progress their children have made.”

The new report lines up closely with the experiences sent by dozens of households to The Star following the report in January. One mum, Lee Moss, said how they went from the scary experience of dropping off their nine-month to having a “confident, happy two-year-old who doesn’t want to leave when I pick him up.”

In the wake of the last report, manager Nicola Moore described the grading as “unfair”, “very negative” and said it did not paint “a true picture of our setting”, later adding that in a follow-up visit in March “the inspector was much happier and more confident in our practice and happier with the setting's environment.”

Following the new report today, Nicola said in a statement: “With the continued support of our parents and the local authority we have reviewed our provision and worked hard to demonstrate to Ofsted that we are the ‘Good’ setting that we have always been.

“I want to thank our parents for supporting us and believing in us through these very difficult six months.

“We are now looking forward to continuing to improve our setting by adding to our outside area and the climbing frame we have had installed in memory of James [a boy who attended the nursery and sadly passed away in 2022], courtesy of Henry Boot who installed this for us for free. We are looking forward to enhancing our outside area with landscaping to enable the children to explore and learn about the wildlife and the natural world around them.”