A nursery has made a sharp turnaround to become 'good' just two years after being rated "inadequate" by Ofsted.
Forget-me-not Nursery in Hornchurch achieved the second best rating in all categories, including quality of education, in a report published this month.
The Hornchurch Road nursery had been rated 'inadequate' in September 2022, before moving up to 'requires improvement' in April last year.
Ofsted, which inspects education providers in England, deemed Forget-me-not a "lively and inclusive" nursery in its latest report, which praised it for child safety.
"Staff are kind and support children to settle in well at this lively and inclusive nursery.
"Children show that they feel safe as they separate well from their parents on arrival," the report added. "They know they can go to staff for cuddles and reassurance."
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This marks an improvement since its April 2023 report where staff were not always found to demonstrate an understanding of children's needs.
In this year's report, Ofsted recognised that the nursery had undergone a change of ownership and praised the incoming head.
"Since the previous inspection, the nursery has undergone a change of ownership.
"The new manager is a transformational leader," the report continued. "She has implemented changes to the organisation of the environment and staff's duties."
The inspection body found the managerial change had built a more cohesive team, helped staff understand their roles and promoted children's personal, social and emotional development.
"There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first," the report added.
Ofsted also said parents are "very pleased" with the education and care their children receive.
But though the regulator said there is a good range of arts and crafts on offer at the nursery, it wrote: "At times, staff are too directive over how children make their artwork. This restricts children from developing their own creative ideas and interpretations."
The nursery was approached for comment but did not respond.
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