Timbers Nursery School

Inspection of Timbers Nursery School Oakridge Hall for All, Forsythia Walk, Oakridge Village, BASINGSTOKE, Hampshire RG21 5RL

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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The provision is outstanding

Children arrive extremely eager to learn and play. They greet staff with enthusiasm. Staff, families and children have developed excellent relationships. As a result, children feel safe, secure and valued in this nurturing, calm environment. Staff create a respectful culture. They consistently model positive interactions and prioritise children's emotional well-being. Staff guide children's behaviour thoughtfully and promote their independence with clear, supportive boundaries. Children's behaviour is exemplary. They show respect, take turns and develop problem-solving skills with skilful support from staff.

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The provision is outstanding

Staff implement an ambitious, tailored curriculum that meets each child's needs. They create exceptionally inviting environments with stimulating activities and resources. They observe children's interests to plan purposeful learning activities. This supports staff in identifying next steps for each child's development. Staff know all children incredibly well, enabling them to support learning very successfully. Children make rapid progress.

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The provision is outstanding

Staff have high-quality interactions with children. They provide ongoing opportunities for children to develop and use their language skills. For example, staff use effective questioning, age-appropriate vocabulary and visual prompts with children. They help children test out their ideas together, such as when building with construction bricks. This sparks curiosity and children's exceptional engagement in learning. Staff expertly build children's skills and knowledge over time. For instance, children practise their physical skills by firstly banging a golf tee into a watermelon. They then build on these skills to take part confidently in supervised woodwork activities with wood and nails.

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need to do better?

n The highly experienced leadership team has an ambitious vision. All staff model this through the play-based curriculum and their interactions with others. Leaders have formed excellent relationships with staff and children. From this, they have created very clear expectations for behaviour, attitudes and learning. Leaders provide staff with regular training, supervision sessions and meetings. They have created an extremely open culture. Leaders ensure that staff's continuous professional development and well-being are prioritised. For instance, leaders run an in-house podcast with important information that is shared between staff. n Leaders and staff work closely with other agencies. This helps children and families get any additional support and funding they need. Leaders use additional funding to improve children's learning experiences, for example to provide new resources in the garden. They use children's interests to buy new

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need to do better?

10 July 2025 resources that will capture their interest and imagination. As a result, children have high levels of engagement. n Partnership with parents is exceptional. Staff provide opportunities for parents to extend children's learning at home. For example, there is a library of books and puzzles for families to borrow. This helps children connect what they learn in the nursery to their daily life. Parents' views are respected, and staff regularly ask parents for updates about children's life experiences. This results in an up-to- date understanding of every child's development. Staff share useful information with parents. For instance, staff create information posters about healthy eating. This supports parents' awareness of the impact of sugar on their children's teeth. n Staff delivery of the engaging curriculum is inspiring. All children make excellent progress. For example, children peel and cut their own fruit. This boosts their

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need to do better?

small physical skills fast. Staff have a highly effective, united approach. They closely evaluate children's development. They seek the views of parents to help influence their curriculum. For example, parents have requested support with teeth cleaning. Staff now incorporate this as part of children's daily learning. n Staff hold small-group sessions to support children's language development. They use these sessions to monitor any children who may need additional support. These sessions are extremely effective. As a result, children speak with confidence and their vocabulary is progressing fast. n There is excellent support in place for children who speak English as an additional language. For example, parents write words from their home language phonetically for staff to use with children. Children have an incredibly strong sense of self and belonging. They celebrate their similarities and differences,

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need to do better?

engaging in high-quality interactions with others. For example, staff read stories to children and discuss people's differences and similarities to embrace and celebrate these. Every child has access to all areas of the setting throughout the day. Children feel respected, and that their voice is heard. n Children are well prepared for the next stage of learning. For example, staff ask children what they think they should do if they encounter a problem. As a result, children think critically and problem-solve independently.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY457530 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 10399090 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 31 Number of children on roll 36 Name of registered person Timbers & Lychpit Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 01256 475833 Date of previous inspection 19 November 2019

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Information about this early years setting

Timbers Nursery School registered in 2002 and re-registered in 2012 to become a limited company. It is situated in the Oakridge area of Basingstoke, Hampshire. The nursery is open from 9am to 3pm each weekday. It operates during term time only. The provider accepts government-funded places for childcare and receives specific funding for disadvantaged children. The nursery employs 10 members of staff to work directly with the children. Of these, eight staff hold relevant qualifications, including one with a BA in early years and one with qualified teacher status.

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Inspection activities

n The leaders and the inspector completed a learning walk, discussing all areas of the nursery and curriculum. n Together, the leaders and the inspector completed a joint observation and compared their evaluations and the impact on children's outcomes. n Children spoke to the inspector during the inspection. n The inspector observed indoor and outdoor play to assess the quality of education and how it influenced children's learning. n The inspector looked at relevant documents, such as evidence of the suitability checks of all staff working in the setting. n The inspector held discussions with parents and staff at appropriate times. Their views were considered as a part of the inspection. n A meeting was held between the inspector and the leadership team to explore how effectively they self-evaluate.

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Inspection activities

We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

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Inspection activities

10 July 2025 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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