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Early years · Report card

Hopscotch Day Nursery (Sholing)

Inspected 25 Nov 2025 · URN 2801983

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Summary

No overall grade in this frameworkSafeguarding met

Sheena Bankier

What we read, and from where

Click a reading to see it highlighted in the report.

  • Achievement verified

    Expected standard

  • Behaviour, attitudes and routines verified

    Expected standard

  • Children's welfare and wellbeing verified

    Expected standard

  • Curriculum and teaching verified

    Expected standard

  • Inclusion verified

    Strong standard

  • Leadership and governance verified

    Expected standard

  • Framework verified

    Report card

  • Group verified

    Hopscotch Day Nursery (Sholing) Ltd

  • Inspection datesingle source

    25 Nov 2025

  • Inspectors verified

    Sheena Bankier

  • Postcode verified

    SO19 8LW

  • Name on report verified

    Hopscotch Day Nursery (Sholing)

  • Safeguarding verified

    Met

  • URN verified

    2801983

Page 1 of 9
Page 1 of the report

Deep dive

What this report says

In plain English

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Grade profile

Each judgement on its scale, weakest to strongest.

  • AchievementExpected
  • Behaviour, attitudes and routinesExpected
  • Children's welfare and wellbeingExpected
  • Curriculum and teachingExpected
  • InclusionStrong
  • Leadership and governanceExpected

Tone of the report

How positive or critical the inspectors' language is, from the words they chose. No AI involved.

+81Very positivemore positive than 67% of reports of this type

In line with other reports of this type.

Praisesuccessfullypositiveeffectivehigh expectationshighly effectivevery effectivefeel safeconfidently
Criticismgapsnot alwaysbreachconcerns

How the report reads, start to finish

Every paragraph in order, sized by length. Tap one to see it on the page.

FindingsSafeguardingAbout the inspectionLeadershipWhat needs to improve positive critical
  • Findings1384w+84
  • Leadership219w+64
  • Safeguarding51w−11
  • What needs to improve54w+79

Strengths

Quoted from the report. Tap to see it on the page.

Concerns

Quoted from the report. Tap to see it on the page.

No strong criticism found.

Next steps

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What the report dwells on

Topics by how often they come up, coloured by how they are described. Open one for an example.

Anatomy of the report

How the report is built, against others of the same type and grade.

Pages
9
Words of findings
1,708
about usual (typical 1698)
Reading level
Hard
Flesch 48, typical 43
Average sentence
16 words
Next steps
2
typical 3
Hedged sentences
9%
“some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 65%Leadership 10%Safeguarding 2%What needs to improve 3%About the inspection 19%

Full report text

Ltd

Unique reference number (URN): 2801983 Address: 200 South East Road, Southampton, SO19 8LW Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 30/08/2024 Registers: EYR Registered person: Hopscotch Day Nursery (Sholing) Ltd

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders and staff welcome all families and work very closely with them to meet their individual needs and circumstances. They are highly reflective in considering what more they can do to help and support individual families. The extra steps taken promote parents' and children's wellbeing effectively.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff successfully use their observations and assessments to quickly identify any gaps in children's learning. This leads to the implementation of carefully considered adaptations, including the use of signing and one-to-one activities tailored to children's needs. Staff implement learning plans that reflect children's individual needs and support their sustained progress over time. Staff listen carefully to the ongoing advice and guidance of any professionals involved and reflect these in children's plans to ensure they have experiences that make a significant difference to their development. Staff who work closely with children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from opportunities to complete specialist training.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff thoughtfully use additional funding to support children's individual learning needs, such as creating song and story sacks to promote speech and language skills. Staff support children's continued learning outside of the nursery as parents and children borrow the song and story sacks to use at home. This helps to continue the support staff provide for children's language development. Staff use signing with all children, which promotes an inclusive environment. These approaches help children to consistently move forward in their progress.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children, including those who start the nursery with gaps in their learning or with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points. They gain confidence and develop their social and language skills well. Children develop skills to support their future learning, such as listening and following simple instructions. They confidently have a go and test out their abilities. For instance, babies focus as they confidently balance and walk along a beam. Pre-school children use their prior knowledge to make dough. They recall the ingredients to add and use their mathematical knowledge and share resources with others. Staff encourage toddlers to learn new words and model these clearly, such as when they put words to actions. Focused individual plans for children who need extra help in their learning successfully support them to make progress and gain the skills they need.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders create a welcoming environment for staff, parents and all children. They promote children's regular attendance and, if needed, explain why this is important to parents. Staff are kind and caring towards children, which builds trust and strong bonds between them, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff implement a consistent approach to managing children's behaviour, such as reminding children of the expectations to walk indoors. They provide positive praise and encouragement to children, which supports their confidence and self-esteem. Staff make adaptations to support children who may need extra help to regulate their behaviour, such as by offering focused physical activities.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders and staff have implemented effective procedures for times when children move around the premises, such as to the garden or sensory room. Staff complete headcounts, sign children in and out of different areas and complete a check of the register when they return to their room. This means changes from one activity to another are managed safely. However, not all routines are fully effective. For example, not all staff encourage children to join in with tidy-up times, meaning some toddlers wander around without purpose. Staff do not always fully consider pre-school children's activities while they wait for their turn to eat lunch. This means that some children are not engaged in meaningful learning at these times.

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Children's welfare and well-being Expected standard

Staff work closely with parents regarding care practices at home, such as sleeping and weaning, to support babies' security and wellbeing. Staff supervise all children closely to promote their safety. For example, they complete regular checks of sleeping children. They sit with children while they eat and remind them to stay sitting on their chairs to help avoid choking. Staff implement dietary needs and allergy procedures robustly. Children benefit from healthy and nutritious food. They follow consistent hygiene routines, including washing their hands before eating. Staff talk to children about healthy options to help them recognise better choices. Leaders promote healthy eating at home. For example, children choose a piece of fruit to take home to eat.

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Children's welfare and well-being Expected standard

Staff support children to learn how to move safely as they undertake physical activities. For instance, pre-school children learn to safely climb up and over equipment. Overall, staff meet children's individual needs successfully. Their close bonds support children to feel emotionally safe and secure. Occasionally, staff do not recognise when some children may need some extra support, such as when changes of routine unsettle them. Staff generally implement respectful care practices when they need to interrupt children's play. For example, most staff wait for young children to indicate they are happy to go with them, such as to go and wash their hands.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have a clear understanding of how the curriculum matches and supports all children's needs. They identify training for staff to help improve their skills and develop the quality of teaching. Staff implement a well-sequenced curriculum that is designed to ensure children have the skills they need to prepare them for their future learning, including school. Staff know their key children well and what they need to learn next. They complete regular observations and assessments for children from the start, gaining information from parents on entry about their child's development and needs. They respond swiftly to any gaps in children's learning. Staff successfully tailor the curriculum to meet children's individual needs, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or gaps in their development.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Overall, staff provide teaching that supports children's learning and development well. They focus on supporting babies' and children's language and social and physical skills through play and positive interactions. For example, staff nurture children's language, social and mathematical skills when they pretend to buy things at the role-play shop. At times, during some changes of routine, not all staff recognise that some children need further support. Occasionally, staff do not identify when some children new to the nursery may need further guidance to help them become more involved in play and learning.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders are actively involved in the day-to-day running of the nursery. They identify improvements needed and work towards these, such as developing children's outdoor learning experiences. Leaders have recently taken effective action to address a breach of requirement linked to staff's supervision of children. They have implemented robust procedures to promote children's safety.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders offer a safe and welcoming environment to children and families. They encourage a positive sense of community and support in their local area. Leaders know the children and families very well, which helps them to meet their needs successfully. There are effective partnerships with other professionals involved in children's care and learning. This promotes a shared understanding of how best to support children.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders and staff gain detailed information from parents about their children when they start. They provide ongoing feedback, including children's next steps in learning. This helps staff and parents work together to support children's progress. Parents borrow books from the nursery's lending library to read to their children, which helps to continue learning at home.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders thoughtfully consider staff's wellbeing and workloads. Staff speak positively about their work at the nursery and the support they receive. Leaders provide training to develop staff's skills. However, leaders do not always ensure that their high expectations for practice are fully embedded across the staff team.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children develop positive relationships with staff, which helps them to feel safe and secure. Most children quickly settle on arrival. Staff provide sensitive care to those who need extra time and support. They gain detailed information from parents when children start. This helps staff to gain a secure understanding of children's needs and backgrounds, including other languages spoken, which helps to promote a sense of belonging. Daily effective handovers with parents ensure staff have an ongoing understanding of how to meet children's changing needs. Leaders encourage children's regular attendance so that they benefit from the experiences on offer.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children enjoy their time at the nursery. They develop their confidence well and start to form friendships with others. Children show enthusiasm for taking part in activities. For example, babies have fun exploring herbs and vegetables by smelling, handling and tasting them. Pre-school children excitedly say how they have freed model animals frozen in ice, using vocabulary such as 'crushed', and explain how the ice melted due to their warm hands. Toddlers show pride in what they can do, such as balancing along a beam and jumping off unaided.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Overall, staff's teaching, interactions and support for children's learning help them gain the key skills they need to prepare for the next stage in their learning. For instance, babies learn to feed themselves, and toddlers gain further skills in beginning to serve some of their own food. The pre-school children learn how to cut up their own food and develop their independence by helping to clear away their plates.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children who need extra support and help with their learning and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from very effective strategies and support from staff. Staff quickly identify and skilfully respond to these children's needs, including individualised support that decreases barriers to their learning and development. For example, staff provide one-to-one and small-group activities that help support children's language development and understanding of positive behaviours.

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Next steps

Leaders should develop staff's skills to manage and provide well-structured routines to support consistent high-quality care and learning for children at these times. Leaders should take steps to help staff embed their training further to reflect leaders' high expectations for practice and to offer fully consistent and highly effective teaching and interactions with children.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, parents, children and the special educational needs coordinator.

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About this inspection

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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About this inspection

We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we received about the provider. The provider will be able to give parents further information about this.

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Address:

200 South East Road Southampton SO19 8LW

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Hopscotch Day Nursery (Sholing) Ltd

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standards expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standards set out in statutory and non-statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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