“CARING and considerate” children are thriving at a nursery which is celebrating a glowing inspection report – its first after a change in ownership.

Meadow Island Day Nursery, which was previously named Cheeky Monkeys and was once deemed inadequate under its previous ownership in 2019, received a visit from Ofsted inspectors in January.

The latest inspection was its first since the takeover by the nursery’s current owner in August.

The report praised the staff at the nursery in William Harris Way, Colchester, for showing a good understanding of each child’s individual needs and for building strong bonds with the children in their care.


For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.


Staff at the nursery “recognise the important role they have in helping children to acquire and use language” but Ofsted suggested this could be improved further by “[extending] opportunities for children to share aspects of their cultural heritage and home languages in the nursery”.

Sarah Graham, the nursery’s manager, who has worked at the nursery since 2013 and took over as manager about 18 months ago, said it felt “amazing” to receive the good result.

The inspector added “the new management team continues to evaluate the quality of the provision” and recognised the team’s “strong commitment to continuous improvement”.

She added the nursery, which has capacity for 86 children, looks forward to welcoming children who may benefit from the Chancellor’s extended free childcare provisions.