INSPECTORS at a Pokesdown nursery found that staff struggled to tailor children’s needs and the education provider fell from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’.

Tops Pokesdown in Wolverton Road, Boscombe, is part of Tops Day Nurseries chain providing early years education for children up to eight years old.

In a previous report by the education watchdog, Tops Pokesdown was rated ‘good’ in 2018, but a recent inspection in July found that staff did not meet children’s needs.

The Ofsted report stated that although management had developed an effective curriculum, they did not ensure that staff delivered this well.

“Staff do not always tailor learning opportunities to what children need to learn next.

“Some activities are too simple or challenging for the children, and they lose interest or do not take part.

“Staff do not build on children's vocabulary by extending their communication and language further.

“Children do not make the best possible progress.”

Interactions between staff and children were not consistently good across different rooms, meaning children do not receive the same learning opportunities.

“Staff who work with older children name objects and items that are familiar to children, but they do not introduce children to new language to extend their vocabulary and understanding", it added.

However, inspectors also found that children felt safe and emotionally secure at the nursery, confident to separate from their parents and carers.

READ MORE: Nursery rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted over child safety

Diane Wycherley, Tops operations director, said: “We are very disappointed that Tops Pokesdown didn’t achieve the grade we wanted at our latest inspection but we view all our work with Ofsted as an opportunity for growth and continuous improvement and we are dedicated to ensuring that every child in our care receives the highest quality education and support.

“There were so many positive aspects highlighted in our report that we are proud of, including sustainable education, promoting child safety, healthy habits and independence and our engagement with our parents and we are pleased to report that both actions raised have been successfully completed.

“We look forward to our next inspection to demonstrate our progress and commitment to providing an outstanding learning experience for the children at Tops Pokesdown.”