Cold Norton Preschool rated 'requires improvement'

Cold Norton Preschool in Cherry Blossom Lane was visited by inspectors on January 18.

The preschool was rated good for its quality of education, behaviour and attitudes and personal development.

But the preschool had not provided Ofsted with the necessary information needed for suitability checks to be carried out on its trustees.

This meant leadership and management got a requires improvement rating. 

However the inspector heaped praise on the preschool and said: “The impact of this weakness on children is minimal. 

“Children are very warmly welcomed into the setting by caring and thoughtful staff. 

Location - Cold Norton Village Hall (Image: Google Street View)

“There is a secure key-person system in place and staff get to know children and their families very well. This helps staff to settle children quickly into the setting. 

“Children are confident to communicate with staff freely and staff sensitively reassure and comfort children.”

The report highlighted how children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are “fully included in the setting”.

The inspector said: “Staff carry out personal care hygienically and responsively. 

“They support children to develop their independence skills, so that they can wash their own hands and dress themselves. 

“All children get involved in tidying up and enjoy receiving special stickers. 

“Staff organise snack time, so that children can independently choose from a range of healthy food and drinks. 

“The setting has developed robust procedures to keep children safe in the hall and when using the park outside.”

The report praised Cold Norton Preschool in areas such as keeping the children safe and secure, providing a wide range of activities helping develop physical skills as well as effective development of communication and language.

It acknowledged staff are “well supported” by leaders and feel valued and that leaders support staff through regular meetings.

However, there were also some areas highlighted for improvement.

The inspector said: “Targets for staff development are not always personalised or precise enough for staff to identify the knowledge and skills they need to develop their practice further.”

The preschool is required to provide Ofsted with the information on trustees by April 30.

Cold Norton Preschool spokesman said: "The reason for our recent rating was an outstanding DBS check for a voluntary committee member - a matter which has subsequently been rectified.

"The setting was marked as good across all other key areas.

"We have requested that the next inspection is conducted as soon as possible and remain confident that this will truly reflect the efforts of our extremely hard working staff and high quality pre-school."