ACE Early Years

ACE Early Years

Unique reference number (URN): 133481 Address: Burford Road, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, OX7 5DZ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 29/12/1998 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: The Activities, Childcare and Education Centre Limited

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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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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children are delighted to see staff and their friends when they arrive at nursery. They are starting to show confidence and seek out well-known adults for a cuddle. Relationships between staff and children are warm, kind and nurturing. Staff know all the children, their needs and their families very well.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children are taught by staff to follow positive hygiene practices, such as wiping their noses and washing their hands. Children are learning to be independent as they pour their own drinks at snack time and have age-appropriate cups. The key-person system is highly effective. Children are secure and are confident to ask for help. For example, children ask staff to help them to dress up as knights. Staff nurture children and encourage them to have a go themselves before providing help.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff know children's routines very well. For example, children with medical needs have personalised care plans in place. Staff tailor their care practices to closely meet children's individual needs. They understand the importance of good health, rest and exercise for children. They actively support children to understand the importance of healthy food choices. Leaders and staff prioritise the welfare and wellbeing of all the children.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive superb support. With the skilled guidance of leaders and managers, staff are particularly effective at identifying and supporting children with SEND. They expertly use their knowledge of each child to put personalised strategies in place, which they regularly review. Staff signpost parents to a range of professionals to support children with SEND. This ensures children get the specific support they need. Children with SEND, as well as those from families in challenging situations, succeed alongside their friends.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders source additional funding for some children's specific needs. For example, they use some additional funding for fortnightly sessions to promote children's physical development and personal, social and emotional skills. Leaders have introduced these sessions to support a number of children, including children who may not have access to outdoor play at home. Staff use funding to purchase carefully selected resources that extend and enhance children's learning experiences. Staff use a range of strategies gained from training to monitor progress. These include the use of the 'assess, plan, do, review' cycle, inclusion monitoring and the local authority communication and language tool. Staff are confident to draw on further help from a range of professionals to support children with SEND.

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Achievement Needs attention

Generally children make progress. However, inconsistencies in teaching mean that children do not consistently remain engaged with activities and resources. This leads to children wandering from activity to activity without focus. They move away from planned learning activities that do not appropriately match their learning needs or capture their interest. That said, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those known to children's social care and those who face other barriers to learning achieve well from their starting points.

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Achievement Needs attention

Children listen to stories for short periods of time and join in with some singing and rhymes, but they leave these when they lose interest. This contributes, to a limited extent, to their communication and language development.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Positive behaviour is not consistently modelled by all staff. This is acknowledged by leaders during discussions, although this is not an area they have identified for improvement. Leaders are exploring ways to manage unwanted behaviour, such as snatching or not sharing, as well as how to support children who need to learn the expectations during the day, such as at tidy-up time. Action to address these aspects of practice is not swift enough to support children's learning.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Staff do not have high expectations for children's behaviour and attitudes to learning. For example, staff ask children to tidy up, and when children refuse, staff do not address this. In addition, the lack of an exciting and ambitious curriculum leads to children not being engaged. This, in turn, leads to weaknesses in children's behaviour.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Leaders have rigorous systems in place to support children's regular attendance, with absences followed up routinely. Staff are kind and nurturing and have positive relationships with all children who attend. They know the importance of embedding a positive environment.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders' priorities since the last inspection have been to address actions set. Although leaders are working hard, not all changes and improvements are fully embedded. Leaders have identified the need to develop and embed their new curriculum. There are still some differences in practice across the provision, and this means staff are not consistently providing high-quality interactions with all children to assess what children know and can do. For instance, staff plan enjoyable experiences, such as painting and dough activities; however, children do not always participate in purposeful learning, as staff do not engage children with the planned learning experiences on offer.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have a clear understanding of the focus on the areas of learning for the younger children who attend this setting. There is a positive focus on promoting children's early literacy skills, with books and songs being integral to the day. Children's physical development is promoted well. For instance, children have opportunities to climb, balance and run freely outside.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Staff make adaptations to support children who speak English as an additional language, have special educational needs and/or disabilities or are disadvantaged in other ways. For example, leaders have identified children who will benefit from fortnightly sessions to support their personal, social and emotional development.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders have made changes to meet actions arising from the last inspection. The changes are yet to have a consistent impact across the setting. Leaders acknowledge that there are still areas that need improvement, some of which they had not identified prior to the inspection. There have been changes to staffing, and leaders recognise that recruitment remains a challenge. Leaders have worked with the local authority, made action plans and started to embed the new curriculum. Staff have regular supervision meetings with their manager, and they attend a range of training. Leaders do not target staff training well enough for it to drive improvement in teaching and staff practice.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders have worked hard to improve the partnerships with parents further. For example, they have improved communication with parents by enhancing the use of the online app and face-to-face meetings to share information. Parents comment positively on how staff nurture their children and families. In addition, leaders have improved how they help parents to support their children's learning at home.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders work closely with other professionals to provide appropriate support for children. They ensure that decisions about additional funding, including funding for disadvantaged children, are targeted on what the children receiving the funding need. All staff feel supported in their roles. They feel listened to and comment positively on leaders.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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

Children are greeted by warm and nurturing staff. Staff chat with children about the children's home lives and clearly know children and their families well; for example, they talk about pets, older siblings and grandparents. Children feel safe and secure and have warm relationships with staff and their friends. Children are learning some skills to support them with their independence. They are encouraged to remove outdoor clothes themselves as they come in from the garden.

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

Children's safety and welfare are given a high priority. Leaders prioritise children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), those known (or previously known) to children's social care and those who face barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. Leaders acknowledge the importance of children, especially these children, attending regularly, and they have robust procedures to ensure attendance is promoted. For example, staff support parents in a range of ways when barriers have been identified, such as children being offered hot lunches or extra sessions to support them.

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

Adults plan carefully to support children's physical development. Babies safely explore, and older children gain confidence on bicycles and tricycles. Mealtimes are sociable. Children adopt respectful eating habits, and staff promote engaging conversations about a balanced diet.

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

Staff know the importance of developing all children's communication and language. They quickly identify children with SEND and those who speak English as an additional language and use a range of strategies to support these children. All children have opportunities to sing along to songs and take part in a range of action rhymes.

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About this setting

Unique reference number (URN): 133481 Children do not remain engaged at planned activities. For instance, staff plan experiences based on children's next steps; however, children do not always participate in purposeful learning, as they quickly lose interest and do not remain engaged in the planned activity.

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Next steps

To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must take the following actions by the assigned date:

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Action Completion Date

improve and embed an ambitious education programme that consistently engages and clearly supports what individual children need to learn next to build on what they know and can do 25/03/2026

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Action Completion Date

develop effective systems for support, coaching and training for staff to ensure they have a full understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and that any inconsistencies in practice are swiftly addressed 25/03/2026

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About this inspection

The inspectors spoke with leaders during the inspection.

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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

A quality assurance visit by an additional inspector was carried out at this inspection.

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Address:

Burford Road Chipping Norton Oxfordshire OX7 5DZ

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: The Activities, Childcare and Education Centre Limited

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 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 standard 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 standard 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

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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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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