Monday 30 November 2009

Celebrations as nursery gains Outstanding Ofsted result!


Wednesday 18th November saw the Mayor of St Ives, Yvonne Watson, attending Castle Kids Nursery at Tregenna Castle for the official opening of the facility. The Mayor was also there to celebrate the result of the nursery’s recent Ofsted inspection. Inspectors visited Castle Kids in October to carry out the nursery’s first inspection and to the delight of the nursery’s management, staff, parents and children the report grades the nursery as “Outstanding.” Ofsted inspectors grade settings as outstanding, good, satisfactory or inadequate. Only the top 3% of settings in the country achieve an outstanding status.

Castle Kids becomes one of the first nurseries in Cornwall to achieve the outstanding status in every category under new inspection criteria, a tremendous achievement given that the nursery has been open for a mere four months.

Leah Care, manager of Castle Kids said: "We are all delighted and extremely proud of our achievements and the feedback we have received from Ofsted. This is all due to the hard work and dedication of the staff team and the contribution of the children and parents."

The report states: “The overall quality of the provision is Outstanding. Castle Kids provides excellent standards of care and education for all children attending. The manager is highly skilled and all staff are committed to the principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage.” The full report can be viewed on the Ofsted website at www.ofsted.gov.uk

Castle Kids is the latest fully Ofsted registered day care facility to open in St Ives. The facility is designed to meet the needs of the hotel guests and local parents alike in providing flexible, affordable, high quality day care, offering children the chance to learn through play in a stimulating and nurturing environment. It also provides a facility for parents to get to know other people and new parents in the area and to drop in for advice and social opportunities.

The nursery conforms to the Early Years Foundation guidelines, but operates on a drop-in basis. This makes the nursery both very flexible and affordable as parents need not pay for sessions which are either cancelled or not attended due to sickness or holiday. Its also great for those needing an hour to themselves to go to the gym, get a hairdo or maybe just have some “me time”.

In addition to the extremely well equipped nursery, children attending Castle Kids also benefit from the supervised use of the two swimming pools on site, not to mention the sub-tropical gardens, adventure playground and vast open spaces the grounds provide. Ages catered for range from new born babies to children aged 10 and there are stimulating activities geared towards each age group.

Nursery prices are very reasonable too at just £3.50 per hour. Full morning sessions, full afternoon sessions and whole day sessions attract a further discount with an option for a hot or cold lunch for just £1.50.

Parents are encouraged to call in and see what the nursery has to offer and currently complimentary vouchers are available entitling you to one free hour at the nursery, for further information, contact Leah Care on 01736 791191.