Any important difference between an Ofsted 'good' vs 'outstanding' nursery?

[FrozenNorth]

I've found a nursery I'm happy with for my DCs' care starting part way through next year. It's a very small setting with lots of long-term staff and a real family feel. The furniture is a bit tired but the children and the staff are full of energy. I found out about it through word of mouth - they don't advertise at all.

I read through their Ofsted report before committing to the nursery and couldn't see much that was negative about it - a couple of suggestions about clearer paperwork and the arrangement of furniture in the baby room. Is that all it takes for a score of good as opposed to outstanding, or is there something else lacking that I haven't understood? I'm not having second thoughts about the nursery, I'm just curious about how the inspection system is applied I guess.

Ooo I will have to ask you which one if we ever meet on the Durham meet ups :D

Ofsted reports are only as good as the day they are done on. You really have to go off your gut feeling when you have a look around it.

Also depends on the inspector, ofsted is pretty inconsistent.

I don't have an informed answer, but I chose a "good" over 3 "outstandings", because I felt the atmosphere and outside space suited DS more. It just felt a warmer place.

I don't have experience of Ofsted, but I do of other "audit" programmes and whilst they often have a lot of merit, I don't believe they win out over good old fashioned gut feel, observation and feedback.

Good luck - hope your DCs settle well. (really good sign that there are long term staff btw).

I don't think there's too much difference between good and outstanding really - much bigger leap between satisfactory and good.

An ofsted inspector once told us that for "Outstanding" you need "that WOW factor". What makes one person go WOW may not make the next go WOW.

Inspections also depend on what the inspector sees on the day, and what her opinions on childcare are, and what mood she's in. I've been in nurseries graded "Outstanding" that I thought were truly dreadful.

My 2.5 DS1 started going to nursery at 11 months old. I saw 4 nurseries before deciding on this one. It had a fairly average Ofsted (mostly good and satisfactory) report but I loved the feel of it. The staff were really warm. It was so basic but out of the 4 nurseries I saw, only 2 of the nursery staff bothered to say hi to DS1 when I took him along. I've been really happy with their care for the last 1.5 years. They just got an Ofsted inspection in the last few weeks and got an Outstanding! I am so chuffed for them especially as the primary school they are attached to actually only scored satisfactory/good. So if you feel good about it, go for it. I think you should use the Ofsted reports as a guide and a guide only.

The difference between a 'good' and an 'outstanding' OFSTED report is usually down to how good the manager is at filling in forms and paperwork.
It is often not down to the care the children receive.