A Blackburn nursery has been rated good by Ofsted in its first inspection, and was praised for its wide range of activities to keep children active and learning.

Kids Planet, based in Jack Walker Way, opened in 2022 and caters for more than 120 children aged zero to four years old.

In their report, inspectors also noted its strong safeguarding procedures and its partnership working to support children with complex needs.

Inspectors said: “The nursery uses the natural landscape to provide adventure and challenge for children.

“The nursery offers children a wealth of opportunities to support their development, for example, staff take babies on walks around the locality.

“They take older children on the bus to the local town, visiting the library and shopping for fruit at the market. Children visit the zoo. Staff use these experiences to enhance the strong curriculum.

“Children develop their physical skills and get ready for school as they take part in sports coaching. They gain a wide variety of sporting skills and knowledge. All children make good progress.”

Ofsted noted staff have “warm relationships” with children and children are encouraged to make their own choices and learn about recycling.

Behaviour was noted to be generally good, with children “highly engaged” and having positive attitudes to learning.

The report went on to praise communication and language development and “meaningful” learning for children.

It added: “The nursery places high priority on developing children's health and well-being.

“They brush their teeth at the nursery daily. This helps them to learn about some of the different ways they can keep themselves healthy.

“Parent partnerships strongly support children's development. This allows children to embed the skills they learn at nursery.

“Partnership working is exceptional. Staff work closely with other professionals and the local authority to support children, including those with complex medical needs.

“This means staff have the expert knowledge they need to meet children's needs.”

Additional funding is used smartly to help children make good progress, and children with special needs or disabilities make good progress thanks to close work between staff and parents.

Staff’s well-being is strongly supported to help them be at their best, and staff have access to a variety of training to help them improve.

However, some areas of the nursery need to improve, Ofsted said. It said sometimes children are not given enough time to answer questions and share thoughts, which needs to be worked on.

Also, the curriculum intentions for children’s personal development are not always delivered consistently, meaning some important social skills are not engrained, such as sharing.