Northcote Gardens - Ofsted report Post Reply

[juliamummy]

I have just read the Northcote Gardens ofsted report, which gives the nursery a Satisfactory rating. In most categories with individual marks, the nursery receives a Satisfactory rating, and there are a handful of Good ratings. One of the comments says: "records show children have frequent accidents and a few incidents with each other."

My little girl starts at the nursery in August. When I visited various nurserys in the area, the Northcote Gardens gave the best overall impression by some margin - it had a really good vibe, and seemed like a happy, sunny place which would provide a lovely environment for my little girl. I still think that your own impression of a place has more value than the box ticking exercise of an Ofsted report, but I was concerned about references to accidents and incidents. For those mummies and daddies with children at the Northcote Gardens I would be really grateful to hear from you and your experiences of the nursery. Thank you.

[klw]

Hi there,

I have to share your surprise at the Northcote Gardens Ofsted report. My daughter has been at the nursery for a year and is very happy there. I have been impressed with the standard of care and her development over this time.I too looked at lots of other nurseries and felt that Northcote Gardens was the best option for us by a long way.

I spoke to the nursery about the Ofsted report as it just didn't tally to my experiences and they said that they were surprised by the staisfactory rating and are querying it. Apparently, the accidents referred to in the report were isolated to the toddler room and were dealt with at the time, so they believe there is no ongoing issue there.

The poor attendence record keeping I have to say is largely down to us busy parents running off and not signing our children in and out (it's very easy to forget!) but they have clamped down on this and now insist that we do so at all times.

My personal view is that the nursery is worth much more than the Ofsted report suggests, but I have to agree that I might've been nervous had I seen it before my daughter started.

From our experiences, I rate the Northcote Gardens very highly and am friendly with a number of other parents at the nursery who feel exactly the same way.

[WandsworthResident]

I too am surprised at this report as my experience of Northcote Gardens was of a happy friendly busy place with very caring owners and staff.

I had two problems, one was very high staff turnover (which the managers fully acknowledged and worked hard to manage as best they could) and the other, which was reason my son left in the end, was that if you have a quieter child they may become a little "lost" in the general hubbub and activity levels. The toddler room is a big, busy, noisy space and I often arrived to find my son sitting by himself as he found it too full on or didn't have the confidence to join in. He needed more input and encouragement than could be offered in a big nursery setting, so this is not necessarily a "fault" with this nursery, but it is something to consider if your child is a bit shy and sensitive!

As for the report talking about incidents and accidents, another way of looking at it is that the nursery is scrupulous about recording these incidents. It wasn't a concern for me at the time, and I don't think anyone expects that a room of 2-4yr olds is going to be without anything like this happening, all children will hit, push or even bite from time to time. I wasn't aware of any accidents whilst my son was there.

[busyMouse]

About a year ago I visited many nurseries in the area and I would also rate Northcote Gardens quite highly. My then three year old daughter attended full time for about six months and I really couldn't fault the care that she received there. The staff were lovely and the children really did seem very well taken care of.
Another nursery that both of my daughters have attended for several years now, the Anglo-Spanish nursery (off Clapham High Street) also received a disappointing 'satisfactory' rating from Ofsted at one point (although I believe this may have improved since then) and I really couldn't rave enough about them! It seemed so unfair at the time!
It seems to be very easy for a nursery to get only a 'satisfactory' grade from Ofsted but I really don't feel like this accurately reflects the quality of a place or how happy you child will be there. Obviously it's great that we have Ofsted and they definitely do an important job but like you say I think you're far better off visiting the nursery and talking to other parents and making up your own mind!

[mumble]

agree re taking Ofsted reports with a pinch of salt what is important to ofsted isn't nec. important to you. (same for schools)
I have a post on here as to why we took my child out of 1 nursery, it got a good from Ofsted but from my POV it really was as bad as it sounds however my first child loved it.
also toddlers have accidents the whole time I've even had nursery fill in an accident report about a bruise he came with (that sounds terrible - but really he was 2 and had balance issues and really really fair skin and fell over all the time)
however I also agree that the Anglo Spanish is fabby, my ds went there for a while and loved it a year later he's still talking about 'my Spanish nursery' and wants to go back! (I hesitate to say this because it's allready hard to get a place) the owner is brilliant really involved very motivated/caring and always on site, other staff also lovely.

[fknipe]

My daughter has been at Northcote Gardens since it opened. We looked at various nurseries and plumped for Northcote Gardens as it was purpose fitted out, had good adjoining outside playing space and was nice and light. I can echo previous posts in that we are pleased that our daughter went there, she has enjoyed her time immensely and made numerous friends. There has been a high turnover of staff, but that probably isn't that uncommon in nurseries but there are some very good staff there. As regards accidents, I assume these happen regularly in a nursery and having had to sign the accident book a few times for grazed knees I'm sure most of them are relatively innocent bumps.

[janee]

There has been a considerable amount of concern over Ofsted reports for secondary and primary schools precisely because "satisfactory" is now being read as below standard.

This means that many educational establishments are massaging their record keeping in order to look better. Praise should go to this nursery for apparently being honest and meticulous in their record keeping. I hope the parents with children at the nursery will make sure that the managers know that you approve.

One of the problems with being overly concerned with protecting children from bumps and spills is that they then grow up with little sense of what is dangerous and what isn't. It seems to me that this is much more harmful than the bumps and bruises in a controlled environment.

[hjm]

I agree with all the comments here. My daughter has been at Northcote Gardens for about a year and we couldn't be happier with it. I too was surprised by the Satisfactory Ofsted report, but when you read the content the criticisms do seem quite petty. Yes my daughter has had a few accidents but they are minor and normally caused by her falling over (or in one case another child biting her on the toe while she was in her high chair!). These things happen at home as well as at nursery (not the toe biting obviously!), and I am pleased that the staff are recording them properly and telling me about them.

One thing I would say is that it has made me realise that you should not just look at the overall Ofsted rating when assessing nurseries and schools. It's important to read what the report actually says as well, so perhaps we should not dismiss some of the local schools with lower than 'Outstanding' ratings without doing our homework first. I have definitley been guilty of this inthe past but I won't be so quick to judge in future.