A Stoke Gifford afterschool and holiday care provider is celebrating after being awarded the highest possible grade of ‘outstanding’ following a recent Ofsted inspection.
The Play House, located next to St Michael’s Primary School on Ratcliffe Drive, impressed the Ofsted inspector during its first inspection since the facility opened in September 2016. It received the ‘outstanding’ grading in all three of the areas that were judged, with the report describing the Play House as a “highly stimulating and very well organised environment”.
The report praised the centre’s leadership, stating: “Experienced and well-qualified leaders have exceptional knowledge of the early years foundation stage requirements and are excellent role models to well-motivated staff. Highly focused professional development and incisive evaluation of the provision successfully drives improvement.”
Key findings of the report also included praise for the exemplary support for children’s well-being, excellent partnerships with the school to ensure activities compliment the delivery of the early years foundation stage and an incredible vigilance of children’s safety.
The report also complimented the centre on its quality of teaching, as well as the excellent behaviour of the children, stating: “[The] Staff’s positive interactions support children’s communication and language skills very well. There are regular opportunities for children to converse and staff are excellent at questioning children to consolidate their understanding. Staff interact exceptionally well, encouraging children to gain confidence in number and early calculation. Children test their ideas very well and solve emerging problems.”
“Children develop strong attachments to very approachable and friendly staff who show genuine interest in their well-being. This helps to build children’s self-esteem exceptionally well. Children understand routines that keep them safe and healthy extremely well.”
The only area of improvement outlined in the report was to “review the use of observations of colleagues to extend the excellent teaching and care even further.”
Claire House, who manages Play House, said:
“We are delighted to have achieved ‘outstanding’ in such a short space of time. I couldn’t have done it without my dedicated team. We have all worked together to create an environment where children have the opportunity and resources to stimulate their imaginations and enable them to explore and play freely.”
• Contact Play House on 0117 931 4154 or info@playhouse.ltd
More information: Ofsted report for Play House, Stoke Gifford
This article originally appeared in the February 2019 issue of the Stoke Gifford Journal news magazine (on page 21). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to over 5,000 homes in Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and Harry Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
