AIBU not to even consider looking at nursery with a poor OFSTED report?

[pickletray]

We'll be a needing nursery from next summer for a 9 month old. Probably for 2-3 days a week.

I work a fairly short drive away but I can't get there by public transport, so I take the car and DH takes public transport or walks to work. DH will be doing most of the dropping off and picking up when I'm at work- because I work shifts that start/finish outside of nursery opening times. So he will be reliant on buses and shoe leather. Therefore we need a nursery that's accessible by bus/ on foot.

There's one about a mile away, I haven't visited it yet but I really like the look of it from the website and it has a very good Ofsted report. It's a short bus journey followed by a 5-10 min walk. It would then be a direct bus from almost outside to/from DH's workplace. Sounds okay?

DH wants to send them to the nearest one which is just a 5-10 minute walk from our house. But it has a poor ofsted report, from 2011, "unfit!" based on management, staffing ratios, security, stuff that imo matters a lot. He seems to think "they will have been made to improve" "it will be ok". He's the kind of person who trusts everyone and never has a bad word to say about anyone/ anything.

He thinks we (me actually) should visit the nearby one anyway to see what I think. So does someone else I asked. But even if "seems"lovely will that change my mind? I'm not convinced.

AIBU to think that Ofsted reports are actually quite important? I know that how nice and friendly the staff are is probably more important than whether they do Yoga, but Ofsted does seem pretty thorough and take a lot of things into consideration. Is it liekly that the nearby nursery will have improved considerably?

Or is my Dear Husband crazy?

Personally I wouldn't send my child somewhere that had had such a bad report. However it is possible that they will have improved in the next year.

I would visit both now (with DH) and again nearer the time to get a feel for the attitudes of the staff, cleanliness, security etc One thing I asked several members of staff was how long they had worked there, as a high staff turnover suggests poor management & more instability for the children. Also being a bit PFB I wanted DD to be looked after by someone who had had more experience than me, not less!

Might as well have a look. FWIW I refused to send ds to an Outstanding nursery - beautiful place, brand new toys, perfect paperwork, but no visits allowed except on open days and a manager who was nasty to the kids in front of me. The one he went to was only Satisfactory at the time, down to poor paperwork, looks a bit battered, but I trust the staff.
I'd treat it as a pointer to what questions to ask, but not rule it out yet.

I wouldn't consider a nursery that was less than outstanding or good, unless it was purely paperwork issues rather than care that it failed on. You can't trust the outstanding nursery either. You can fake outstanding for a day when ofsted come.

I would visit both nurseries and ask how they responded to the iCards report.

Damn you autocorrect! Ofsted not icard.

personally i wouldn't for the reasons you mention.
However, i did send my DS to a nursery with a 'satisfactory' rating as it was the nicest, had the friendliest staff and when i visited it just felt right compared to some of the other nurseries i looked at. He settled in well and loved it and i felt he was very well cared for. And actually when looking at the reasons it got marked down on the ofsted report was for small things like, each baby in the baby room does not have his own coat peg, and they could do with some more shelves in the toodler room etc. The safety and other important issues were all very well rated.
In the 3 years he was there it went from satisfactory to outstanding.
rated.

I would visit the nearby nursery and ask questions.

1. How long have staff been there? What are the ages of various staff?

2. What is their reaction to the poor OFSTED report. Have they got new management in.

My son went to a pre school that was rated inadequate. The manager was sacked resigned and the new manager dramatically improved the nursery. For example under the previous manager the pre school was far too formal, behaviour was a major issue and children were punished using the naughty chair for trival things like not sitting and saying their prayers. The new manager dramatically changed the pre school and it went from inadequate to good within 12 months. the staff and the children were far happier with better management.

If an OFSTED is really awful then I think a change of management is essential. Otherwise the nursery will never improve.

YANBU but I would visit it and see what they are doing in response to the report. I am very cynical about OFSTED nursery reports - when you read them many fall down on minor points of admin. DS1 went to a satisfactory nursery as I liked the staff and they all had worked there for years. It was a bit tatty in places but I could live with that.

When we moved he went to an outstanding one. There was very little that the second did better than the first.