A NURSERY group in York has received its second 'outstanding' inspection rating from Ofsted in a year.
Muddy Boots Nurseries has four sites in and around York - Poppleton, Acomb, Wilberfoss and Stamford Bridge.
On March 7, the Stamford Bridge site received the outstanding rating from Ofsted, just under a year since the Poppleton site received the same endorsement.
Ofsted concluded that the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management were all outstanding in Stamford Bridge.
Inspector Lynne Pope summarised Muddy Boots' successes, saying: "Children arrive eager to take part in the many and varied activities that staff offer.
"Staff work with parents to offer settling-in visits that help to introduce children to the nursery.
"Parents are updated regularly throughout the day. Staff send them photographs and parents can ring the nursery as well."
Speaking on the achievement, marketing manager at Muddy Boots, Matthew Allton, said: "Ofsted obviously means a lot and it’s an amazing achievement to get outstanding.
"The team there are absolutely fantastic, they live and breathe and child care."
Matthew added: "We’re committed to giving the best childcare everyday.
"We have quite a stringent internal process and ways of working to ensure that we’re always operating at an outstanding level."
Matthew added that the Poppleton inspection, the results for which were announced on March 28 last year, came as a "pleasant surprise".
Ofsted praised the approach of Muddy Boats, saying: "They encourage children to explore, experiment and test out ideas. For example, in pre-school, children build ramps into the water tray.
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"They pour water down and observe whether the water will move the sticks they have placed there. Staff help children to follow clear and simple rules. Behaviour throughout the nursery is good."
Despite the praise, Matthew insisted that the nursery staff remain focused on continuing to do their jobs.
"Don’t get me wrong, it's brilliant, we’re really really happy that we’ve done it, but it really is just a reflection of what we feel that we are doing," he said.
Muddy Boots now awaits inspection for its final two sites, in Wilberfoss and Acomb. With both already being rated good, Matthew said he remains hopeful for a clean sweep of outstanding reports.
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