Second Outstanding Ofsted Report for Randolph Beresford

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Head Michael Pettavel and staff "overjoyed" at result

The staff, governors, parents, carers and children of Randolph Beresford Early Years’ Centre in Australia Road are celebrating a second outstanding report from Ofsted.

The new report follows their first in 2010.

Head of centre, Michael Pettavel said he and his staff were ‘overjoyed’ at the excellent result.

He said: “This is an excellent reward for all of our staff who have worked extremely hard. I need to thank them and our governors and parents for their support and encouragement.

“Most of all though, we need to thank the wonderful children at our nursery who have shown themselves to be bright and attentive learners. They show a remarkable potential for making a substantial contribution to our community as they continue to grow and learn.”

Randolph Beresford can stand even prouder of their outstanding achievement because, in November last year, Ofsted introduced tougher inspections for nurseries and pre-schools.

The nursery, which was inspected in December, was amongst the first schools to be inspected under the new system.

During the visit to Randolph Beresford, the Ofsted inspector noted that there were rich interactions between staff and children to maximise the opportunities for children to improve their confidence, communication skills and to extend their learning.

Staff used very good questioning skills to test children’s understanding and engaged children effectively in speaking and listening.

An inspector said: “Staff are extremely caring and want children to do their very best in a range of exciting and engaging activities that they plan for them.

“They know the children well through observing and tracking their progress, and hold end-of-day evaluation meetings to plan and modify tasks for the next day as part of the next steps in children’s learning.”

The Ofsted inspector said parents and carers spoke highly of the teachers and the progress their children make, with parents very appreciative of all that the nursery offered.

The glowing report highlighted effective links between parents and carers with a wide range of support and guidance for families. It said the school works effectively with other agencies to provide children, particularly those vulnerable to underachievement, and families with the support they need. This has had a good positive impact on improving attendance and the progress children make in their learning.

One parent said: “My child comes home happy and singing”. Another parent of a child who speaks English as an additional language said that her child receives such good support at school that “her English is now better than mine!”

H&F Council’s cabinet member for education, Cllr Georgie Cooney, said: “This recognition by Ofsted is truly deserved. It highlights all the amazing work that Michael, and his team have done.

"The report reads like a treasure chest of positive comments and I’m sure the team at the nursery will continue to develop the children’s experiences even further.”

Along with this being Randolph Beresford’s second consecutive outstanding Ofsted report, their children's centre was also rated outstanding in 2010 and their under threes’ day care centre was rated outstanding in 2011.

January 17, 2014