'We were jumping for joy' says manager of Sunderland nursery after good Ofsted judgement

Helping Hands Childcare manager Katie Kershaw was speaking after the nursery was judged to be good in all areas following its latest Ofsted report.

Inspectors who visited the Silksworth based nursery highlighted how the children “benefit greatly from a warm and inviting environment” and the “strong attachment” created with staff.

Inspectors also praised the children for their good behaviour and commended the nursery on the opportunities provided for children to be active.

Lead inspector Eileen Grimes was fulsome in her praise of the nursery’s “ambitious” curriculum and development of children’s literacy.

She said: “Staff deliver an ambitious curriculum that is designed to build on children's confidence, independence and resilience. This helps children to prepare for the next stage of their education.

“Staff are strong role models for children's communication and language. They create many opportunities for social interaction and children interact enthusiastically with their peers and staff.

“Throughout the nursery, staff invite children to share books in the cosy reading corner, individually and in groups.

“Children enjoy turning the pages and looking at the pictures of familiar stories.

“Staff nurture children's love of books and this helps to develop children's early literacy skills.”

After being informed of the judgement, current nursery manager Katie Kershaw said: “The staff always do great activities with the children and it’s reassuring to know we are doing a good job.

“Everything went really well. The pre-school children engaged really well and our safeguarding was also praised.”

Staff at the nursery were under additional pressure as they were hoping to open their second nursery in Pennywell.

Following the good judgement Helping Hands has now opened its second nursery which is being managed by Emily Robinson, who was manager of the Silksworth setting at the time of the inspection.

She said: “We are really happy with the good Ofsted as we needed a good judgment to be able to open our second nursery.

“We were all jumping for joy when we were informed of the judgement as there was obviously a lot at stake.

“We were pleased with the whole report.”

The inspection team highlighted how the children are encouraged to develop their independence and praised the nursery’s leadership team for their “highly effective” communication with staff.

The report also commended the nursery for building “trusting relationships” with parents who said that staff are “committed to their job and go the extra mile for their children”.