We are delighted to share that this year we have been awarded an “outstanding” rating by Ofsted. The full report is available to read here.
Thank you to Diane for writing and sharing this account of an eventful (but also quite typical) day!
We welcomed our inspector, Jo, who spent the morning closely observing the staff and children, asking questions of both and also chatting with parents. During garden time, she watched the children climbing the ladder (after doing a safety check first of course!) – they wanted to see whether their arms would go around the tree. One of the children noticed something rather important. The child, who was at the top of the ladder, quietly called me over and said in a low voice “Diane, Jo’s standing in our vegetable patch.” We both turned to look at her; she looked back at us then looked down at her feet. It was funny seeing her with her notebook and pen standing there looking rather guilty. We all checked on the carrots and we did reassure Jo that unfortunately only one or two had grown this year so she hadn’t caused a lot of damage! All of this highlighted so many things: our children’s understanding, our understanding (tree hugging, estimates and maths) and some of the activities we get up to throughout the year together.
Another child mentioned that they had been playing with hula hoops and Lauren got ours out of the shed as everyone was interested. Lauren literally had the children jumping through hoops, taking turns and having fun. Jo asked, “had you planned that activity as I was coming?” and the answer was that we hadn’t, we just worked with the children’s interests. The children and Jo had a great time with this activity which demonstrated our child-centered and flexible approach to learning, especially in the three key areas of physical development, social skills and communication and language.
Another child was anxious on the day for certain reasons and and was sitting with Eileen, who was also busy overseeing rye stick making (our lovely Eileen is great at multi tasking!). Jo was watching with interest as some of the smaller children helped with this activity. Eileen realised that Jo’s presence close to the anxious child was making things worse, so in the nicest way possible she very kindly asked Jo to “move away”. Later Jo was very happy to see this child relaxed and happy with friends at the snack table. Eileen had worked her magic with a bowl of warm washing up water and bubbles! This really showed how we care for the children and how we really do get to know them and work closely alongside them.
A place was found at the snack table for Jo, (her pen and notepad put to one side). She admitted to the children that she had not had breakfast (tut, tut!) and enjoyed a portion of porridge from our huge pot with jam and apple sauce on top too! Jo listened and watched all the children chatting to each other and us. She saw their ability to communicate, share news and connect with each other, feeling secure in the presence and attention of trusted adults.
At the end of the morning Jo said she had no idea how all the children managed to get from outside to sitting down at the snack table as well as taking off their waterproofs and putting their wellingtons on the rack, getting their slippers on, going to the toilet, washing their hands, laying the table with and whilst negotiating friends and a tablecloth, getting their cup and then sitting down. The children were really great – they did have their moments throughout the morning, but things were all sorted out and we moved on. Phew – all I can say is that sometimes small miracles do happen!
Lauren and Eileen were amazing and truly showed Jo how much we do, our understanding of the Steiner ethos and how much we enjoy working with the Cobnuts children and families. Our safeguarding was all in place thanks to the Cobnuts Management Team whose support makes Cobnuts the safe place it us.
What a brilliant outcome for Cobnuts – well, actually an “outstanding” one!
