Old MacDonald's Day Nursery in Chesham

Ofsted rating for Old MacDonald's Day Nursery

Last inspected 3 May 2022

What it's like to attend

• Children are confident learners and are eager to talk about their activities, showing high levels of curiosity and concentration.
• Children develop secure attachments with their key person, benefiting from positive interactions during care routines that promote communication and language.
• A range of exciting activities are provided, preparing children for future learning by encouraging perseverance and independent skills, such as making dens during forest school.
• Children behave well and benefit from consistent praise from staff, which recognises their efforts and achievements.
• Staff swiftly identified children's learning needs during COVID-19 by maintaining contact with parents and sending home forms to gather information about children's experiences, supporting physical development.
• Staff provide positive opportunities for children to learn about their unique identities, including learning about different cultures and tasting traditional foods.
• Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning through their enjoyment of activities, cooperating with others, making decisions, and independently planting seeds.
• Managers ensure the provision is highly inclusive, actively liaising with professionals to support children's individual needs and ensuring staff have relevant training.
• Staff develop extremely positive relationships with schools, encouraging receiving teachers to visit the nursery, which positively impacts children with special educational needs or disabilities during transitions.
• Managers prioritise staff well-being, implementing support systems to help staff maintain a good work-life balance and feel valued, including 'well-being catch ups' and time for professional development.
• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff having a good understanding of how to keep children safe, including during outings, and managers establishing robust safeguarding procedures.

• 1Support staff in effectively using nursery spaces and resources to deliver the curriculum more effectively.
• 2Strengthen opportunities for staff to share best practice across age ranges and raise the quality of staff interactions to a consistently higher level.