Ofsted: Northampton nursery ‘delighted’ after jumping from ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’ after ‘turbulent’ six months

A nursery owner in Moulton has said she is “delighted” after its Ofsted grade jumped from ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’ but says that the education watchdog’s plans to change their complaints process has come “too late.”

Favours Day Nursery, in Boughton Fair Lane, was graded ‘good’ in all areas after being re-inspected in May and inspectors found that management “successfully” met the actions set at the previous inspection in November 2022.

Owner of Favours Day Nursery, Rebecca Maloney, said: “The inspection was a totally different experience to the last one and whilst the inspector was challenging, she was also extremely courteous, showed great interest in everything we do and had the children’s best interests at the heart of it all which is exactly as it should be.”

The latest Ofsted report, published this week, states that parents are “overwhelmingly positive” about the nursery, staff’s interactions with children are of a “consistently high quality” and children with SEND are supported “effectively.”

Ofsted, at the nursery’s previous inspection last year raised concerns about staff not fully understanding safeguarding procedures, cleanliness and hazards to children - such as shelving units not being secured to walls. None of these concerns were raised again at the setting’s latest inspection.

Ms Maloney previously told The Chronicle & Echo that she was “shocked and saddened” at the report, which she described as “categorically inaccurate.” She said she appealed to Ofsted but described their process for reviewing decisions as “inherently biased and flawed.”

Ofsted announced the launch of a consultation on plans to significantly change its complaints process for both schools and early years settings earlier this week.

“This is a great move forward but, unfortunately, too late for us,” Ms Maloney said.

In a letter sent out to parents, Favours Day Nursery said: “We would like to thank you all for your unwavering support since our previous Ofsted inspection in November. It was possibly the most turbulent time in our lives and naturally made us reassess everything that we do, why we do it and how we do it.”

The nursery said it is “delighted” with the outcome of their latest inspection after working “extremely hard as a team” over the last six months to address the actions set by Ofsted.

The letter continued: “The additional training and questioning in the form of quizzes, bingo, treasure hunts and many other creative tests has led to a much stronger understanding of the policies but also a much stronger and cohesive team ready to move forwards and upwards!

“We hope that you will feel as much pride about this as we all do. Now, at last, we can continue moving forwards with all our exciting plans.”

Favours Day Nursery Limited opened their Moulton nursery in 2010 and their other Irthlingborough-based nursery, in Finedon Road, is also graded good in all areas following their latest inspection in 2021.

Read the Moulton nursery’s full Ofsted report here.