Fingerprints Nursery

Recipe cards, electronic scales and babies pulling themselves upright give Fingerprints Nursery’s October 2022 account its character: practical learning, with different demands at different ages. At its 27 October 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and reported good progress, including for children receiving additional funding.

At 55 Dewsbury Road, Cleckheaton, BD19 5BT, the nursery has 60 places in total and accepts children aged 3 to 60 months. Those are whole-nursery figures, rather than the size of an individual room.

The early years foundation stage sets expectations for children’s learning, development and care. Here, the October 2022 examples show what that can mean in practice: handling materials, talking with adults and learning through physical exploration.

In October 2022, babies used furniture to practise standing and explored indoor soft-play equipment. Two-year-olds stacked sponges with shaving foam, while older children followed recipes and weighed ingredients. These activities connected movement and coordination with early number work.

Books and songs also featured in October 2022, alongside threading, painting and baking tools. However, baby-room activities and the environment did not consistently accommodate children at different developmental stages. Staff coaching also needed greater precision, because opportunities to deepen learning were sometimes missed. Both points matter when judging how an appealing activity becomes useful teaching.

In October 2022, familiar routines helped babies and toddlers settle, and staff offered physical comfort. Children showed concern when friends were upset, while adults helped toddlers practise sharing and turn-taking. The practical emphasis was on relationships as well as activities.

At the October 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that staff worked effectively with parents to assess development, identified children needing additional help promptly and referred them to other professionals. Progress meetings, electronic updates and books linking learning with home gave families several ways to take part; staff also worked with parents and teachers on the move to school.

October 2022 family activities included World Book Day, a pumpkin competition and collecting seasonal objects for displays. A cook prepared meals such as chicken pasta bake, and a visiting dentist contributed to learning about health. These are examples from that period, rather than a current events calendar or menu.

Fingerprints Nursery is open from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year, with closures for bank holidays and Christmas. The Dewsbury Road address places it in Cleckheaton.

In October 2022, funded early education was offered for two-, three- and four-year-olds. That dated participation should be distinguished from the arrangements a family needs for a new booking.

• Baby-room learning. In October 2022, activities needed closer adjustment to babies’ individual development. During a visit, ask how the room now caters for children learning to crawl, stand and walk.
• Teaching interactions. October 2022 coaching needed sharper direction so staff could build more consistently on children’s learning. Ask how practitioners extend a child’s play and how that practice is reviewed.
• Attendance and funding. The opening window runs from 7am to 7pm, while the funded-education example dates from October 2022. Before choosing an attendance pattern, request written booking and funding terms covering hours, meals and consumables.

Fingerprints merits consideration for families seeking practical early learning and substantial weekday opening hours. Its October 2022 strengths included communication with parents and activities that combined language, movement and number work. For a baby’s place, the most useful scrutiny is how individual learning needs are met; across the nursery, it is how staff turn everyday play into further learning.