A nursery in Collier Row has been rated 'requires improvement' at its first Ofsted inspection.

Explorers Collier Row nursery has been told it must improve several aspects of its provision, including staff members' interaction with children, after an inspection by Ofsted in November last year.

It was rated as requires improvement across all four categories - quality of education, behaviours and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management - which is above the lowest Ofsted rating of 'inadequate' but behind 'good' and 'outstanding'.

This comes after the provider informed the education regulator of an incident and it was served a notice to improve in September 2019.

The report stated children are “visibly happy” when arriving at the “welcoming, friendly and safe nursery”, and they are keen to explore play opportunities.

But it adds: “Staff's expectations of children are varying.

“For instance, at times, staff do not teach older children how to behave appropriately to help them understand what is expected of them.”

Despite this, the report said youngsters benefit from staff’s positive partnership with parents and they have opportunities to learn to be independent.

But further concerns were raised over children using real-life objects during imaginative play as “staff do not always teach the children what the objects are used for or how to use them correctly and safely in their play with others”.

It adds: “This weakness means children do not develop their social and physical skills as well as they could.”

There are “nutritious and balanced foods” on offer, it says, with opportunities to be physically active during outside play.

However, not all records relating to safe recruitment checks were “easily available, as required”, during the inspection.

Ofsted advised the nursery to improve by making sure the records are accessible.

Information to help children with special education needs and/or disabilities was not always successfully communicated from leaders to the wider team, the report found.

The provider was advised to improve staff interactions with children to ensure they understand play and make sure staff receive a thorough induction.

It added that the nursery should develop a more focused programme to swiftly address any weaknesses and improve practice.

Explorers Collier Row was contacted for comment but did not respond.