Hemel Hempstead preschool ‘requires improvement’ after Ofsted inspection

A preschool in Hemel Hempstead has been rated as requiring improvement by Ofsted after it was inspected in June.

This was the first inspection of the nursery, which operates in Adeyfield Free Church Centre on Maylands Avenue, and found that while children enjoyed their time there, there were inconsistencies in the quality of teaching.

Preschool and nursery manager, Sarah-Jo Barnes said Fingerprints was very disappointed with the grading.

She said: “As the report showed, it is a very positive environment where children are safe and happy, and the parents are all very happy with the progress that their children make; Ofsted only see a very brief snapshot on a single day, rather than the bigger picture over a period of time.”

Sarah-Jo added: “However, we have taken on board all of the recommendations made by Ofsted and are working with them to ensure that we quickly return to a ‘good’ rating.”

The report stated that children arrive at the pre-school happy and separate from their carers with ease.

While they make friends and play together, enjoying their time at pre-school, some staff do not have all the skills they need to help children make good progress in their learning.

In turn, some activities are not well planned enough to ensure all children are challenged sufficiently.

Ofsted has asked the provider to develop the curriculum to ensure it identifies what all children need to learn and offers appropriate challenges to help them make at least good progress.