A Haddenham nursery has achieved its second consecutive ‘good’ rating from Ofsted thanks to a team that provides a ‘stimulating environment for children to play and explore independently.

Having been awarded a ‘good’ in June 2014, staff at Hill Row Day Nursery were praised for making sure parents are ‘well informed’ about the children’s progress and for offering ‘helpful advice about how to support learning at home’.

Hill Row Day Nursery opened in 1996 and operates from a large bungalow in Haddenham. The nursery is open weekdays from 8am to 6pm for 51 weeks of the year. There are 10 qualified members of staff who work with the children.

To improve the quality of early year’s provision, the report states: “Hill Row can enhance children’s progress even further by ensuring that all opportunities to extend children’s learning are maximised, especially during self-chosen activities.”

The report adds that as a result of the advice given, “good partnerships are evident and children are happy and settled at the nursery”.

The inspector said: “Staff at the nursery provide a stimulating environment and have a good understanding of how children learn through play.

“They plan plenty of interesting activities to capture children’s interest, and as a result, children are active and enthusiastic learners.

“Staff observe children as they play and make accurate assessments of their development, this enables children’s next steps in learning to be planned effectively and their good progress promoted.”

Monitoring children’s progress was praised in Hill Row’s report, along with ‘thorough’ educational programmes and staff performance, meaning that “support needs can be quickly identified” and “actions are taken to rectify the situation where necessary”.

The report however states “occasionally, some staff do not always recognise when to intervene’ and staff need to ‘promote children’s learning further during their self-chosen activities.

“As a result, learning is not always maximised at these times’.

A ‘good’ Ofsted report shows that the nursery is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children and ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning.