A nursery previously rated ‘outstanding’ has seen a dip under a new Ofsted ranking system after an authorised person gained access and a child left the nursery unsupervised.
However, Mini Moos at Churchfields Day Nursery met all expected standards during an Ofsted inspection on June 3 – and managers say they are proud of the result.
The nursery, which has 56 places, achieved an outstanding judgment in 2024. Since then, there have been two incidents – including unauthorised people entering the nursery (two elderly people trying to find a former cafe) and a child leaving the premises.
The new Ofsted grading system explained
There are five grades available to Ofsted inspectors – exceptional, strong standard, expected standard, needs attention and urgent improvement.
Bianca and Dominique Delord of Mini Moos at The Old Dairy, Churchfields Farm, Salwarpe, near Droitwich, said in a statement they were ‘incredibly proud’ of the June 2026 Ofsted inspection.
They achieved ‘meets the expected standard’ across every area of inspection after they ‘tripled in size’ and had to double their workforce after Ofsted introduced a revised inspection framework.
They say the new ‘exceptional’ rating is not a direct replacement for the previous ‘outstanding’ judgment but a ‘newly introduced grade reserved for practice considered to be of the highest national standard’, meaning outcomes are not directly comparable.
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Ofsted said: “On 9 February 2026, the provider notified us about matters relating to the safety and suitability of the premises. The notification means that the provider met their legal responsibility as set out in the Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage to notify Ofsted of an unauthorised person gaining access to the premises.”
Ofsted carried out a regulatory visit on March 30 this year, finding the provider was not meeting some of the requirements and ‘had taken action to put this right’ and ‘took steps to address the security concerns’.
Another issue was identified on September 19, 2025.
A spokesperson for Ofsted said: “The provider has notified us of an incident where a child was able to exit the nursery unsupervised via the main door. The provider has completed a full investigation and has taken action to prevent a similar occurrence from happening again. ”
Mini Moos responds to Ofsted report 2026
Bianca and Dominique Delord of Mini Moos said in a statement: “Mini Moos has always taken its safeguarding and reporting responsibilities extremely seriously and has consistently reported all notifiable incidents to Ofsted in line with statutory requirements.
“The incident involving a child leaving the premises occurred during the first few weeks of operating from our expanded site and during the child’s first week of attendance.
“During a handover period, the child was able to operate the existing door mechanism and exit the building to their parent. The incident was immediately reported and investigated. Following this, we introduced a higher-level magnetic security lock system, similar to those used within healthcare settings, which is inaccessible to children.
“The incident relating to unauthorised access occurred when exceptionally wet weather caused the external door to swell and prevented the magnetic lock from engaging correctly. This allowed two elderly members of the public, who mistakenly believed the café previously operated from the building remained open, to enter the premises.”
The statement also draws attention to ‘an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility’ and that, as a result, ‘children are made safer and feel safe’.
The statement said inspectors noted that “children are happy, settled and emotionally secure within this welcoming nursery” and that they “benefit from positive relationships that help them feel safe, develop a sense of belonging and build confidence”.
