Butterfly's Day Nursery Morley: Ofsted downgrades Leeds nursery over 'unclear expectations' and 'unambitious curriculum'

Butterfly's Day Nursery, located on Melbourne Street in Morley, was downgraded to Requires Improvement during its recent inspection having previously been rated Good since its opening in 1998.

In their latest report published this week, Ofsted rated the nursery as Requires Improvement in all categories – the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.

The education watchdog said: “Children and staff form secure attachments. Children make choices from a range of suitable resources. Overall, children's educational needs are met. The manager has a suitable understanding of what it is that she wants children to learn. However, there is variation in how some aspects of the curriculum are implemented into practice, particularly for the youngest children.

“Although staff follow children's interests and explore topics such as 'animals', some children lose interest in what they are doing. This means that the curriculum is not ambitious for all children to help to accurately identify what children need to learn next.”

Inspectors note that “children form friendships and generally behave well” while parents are complimentary of the care that their children receive and state that the manager and staff keep them regularly informed about their child's day.

However, on occasion, staff do not make their expectations clear to children in a way that is “appropriate to their age and stage of development.”

Adding: “Weaknesses in the setting's curriculum mean that children sometimes are distracted from their learning and do not become deeply engaged in their play. Despite this, children show emerging levels of confidence and are emotionally prepared to start school.”

A spokesperson for Butterfly's Day Nursery said: “We opened Butterfly’s 25 years ago and have gone through many changes with the inspection framework. We have always been a good provider with a fantastic team who work with both the children and their families to obtain the best outcome for each individual child. That hasn’t changed.

“Sadly this inspector didn’t feel our curriculum was challenging enough. We have already worked through the recommendations & made changes where needed. We look forward to regaining our previous GOOD grade at the next inspection.”