Bears Den

Bears Den

Unique reference number (URN): EY381013 Address: Venning Barracks, Donnington, TELFORD, Shropshire, TF2 8JT Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 06/10/2008 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Bears Den Pre-School Partnership

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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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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders and staff establish a calm environment where children feel safe and secure. Children understand and follow a consistent routine and know what will happen next. For example, they line up to get ready to wash hands prior to lunchtime. Children are quick to remind their friends to stay in line or they will miss their turn. Occasionally, transitions between activities are not managed well enough, and children sometimes become distracted. Furthermore, because the curriculum is not always sharply adapted to individual next steps, some children occasionally lose focus when activities lack the necessary challenge to fully sustain their natural curiosity and drive.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Despite these areas for development, children are happy, behave well and demonstrate genuine kindness toward their peers. They have excellent manners, and they play well with their friends. Children demonstrate a clear understanding of the nursery expectations and respond with enthusiasm to the praise and encouragement offered by staff. Children and staff have friendly and positive relationships. They laugh together as the tower of bricks topples over. Leaders demonstrate a proactive approach to attendance. They work closely with families to ensure that disadvantaged children and those known to social care attend regularly.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders and staff demonstrate a clear commitment to the safety of all children, and while there are some inconsistencies in the quality of education, children are generally happy and settled. They create a warm and welcoming space and encourage a sense of belonging for children and their families. Staff take time to build strong, warm relationships with their key children, ensuring they feel secure and settled from the moment they arrive. Children benefit from secure relationships with staff.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children choose independently from the limited play choices on offer. They communicate their needs, for example as they ask for a drink of water from the jug available on the table. While the quality of interactions is variable, staff are attentive and caring. They help all children with personal care routines and encourage them to do some things for themselves, such as putting on their coat. While children do not sleep during their time at the setting, staff ensure children have opportunities to rest when needed.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders and staff provide parents with guidance around healthy eating. They provide nutritional snacks for children during the day, and water is always available to drink. Children develop their coordination, attempting an obstacle course made of soft-play equipment or the indoor gym resources. However, children do not have enough opportunity to access fresh air and exercise in the outdoors. This limits their chances to develop and strengthen their large-muscle skills.

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Achievement Needs attention

While children generally enjoy their time at the nursery, inconsistencies in the curriculum mean they do not typically make the best possible progress across all areas of learning. This means children do not fully develop the skills they need in preparation for their next stage of learning. Children hear some words as they chat with staff, and they occasionally choose a book for staff to read to them. However, for those children where there are gaps in their language development, staff's interactions do not support their progress well enough. The most able children, or those who are getting ready for school, do not have enough opportunities to practise their social and independence skills.

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Achievement Needs attention

Children occasionally learn about mathematical ideas incidentally as they build a tower of bricks and staff count the blocks with them. They develop physical skills as they climb over, under and through an indoor obstacle course. Despite weaknesses in their achievement, children are happy and comfortable as they play alongside their friends.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The curriculum is not well thought out or securely embedded. Teaching is inconsistent across the setting. In some instances, staff interactions are supervisory, and they miss vital opportunities to extend children's thinking or model a wide range of vocabulary. The curriculum lacks a sufficiently sharp focus on specific next steps for learning. This often results in activities that do not meet the learning needs of all children. While leaders and staff strive for an inclusive ethos, the adaptation of the curriculum is not yet precise enough to consistently reduce barriers for all learners. This means that children do not make the best possible progress from their starting points.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

There is a clear vision for what leaders and staff hope children will achieve. They establish a pleasant environment where children feel safe, settled and emotionally secure. On occasion, where teaching is stronger, staff use their knowledge of the children to provide engaging experiences. For example, children develop their small-muscle skills as they press and squeeze their favourite play dough into shapes. Occasionally, staff count with children as they carefully balance one brick on top of another. For children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, leaders work closely with external professionals to secure funding and implement specialist support plans. This collaborative approach ensures that the nursery remains a welcoming space that prioritises the wellbeing of every child in its care.

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Inclusion Needs attention

The curriculum, teaching and the environment for learning are not consistently effective in supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or reducing barriers to learning. The quality of staff's teaching and interactions is variable and often remains supervisory rather than extending children's thinking or building their vocabulary. The curriculum is not sufficiently structured or adapted to ensure that next steps for all children are sharply focused on their individual progress. This limits the opportunities for children's learning, especially those with SEND, and they do not make sufficient progress across the curriculum.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Despite these areas for improvement, leaders demonstrate a clear commitment to an inclusive culture. They work proactively with children's social care and the local authority to support children known to these services. They attend professional meetings and provide detailed information. For children with SEND, leaders successfully work in partnership with other professionals to secure external funding. They implement specialist support plans, such as speech and language interventions, although these plans are not always followed consistently by staff. Disadvantaged children benefit from leaders who prioritise their care. Parents value the nursery's supportive environment, noting that their children feel safe, settled and happy in their care.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders agree that there are currently some challenges in ensuring a consistently high standard of education across the nursery for all children. Monitoring of teaching is not yet rigorous enough to identify variations in the quality of staff's teaching, their interactions or their understanding of how to provide a rich learning environment. This means that the curriculum is not implemented well enough. While leaders have a vision for improvement, the impact of limited opportunities for professional learning means that not all staff possess the expertise required to consistently extend children's vocabulary or tailor learning to children's next steps.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders demonstrate a genuine commitment to the wellbeing and workload of their staff. They foster a supportive culture where team members feel valued. They have recently introduced a new training programme to begin to provide staff with the skills and knowledge they need. Leaders and staff are keen to bridge gaps in practice. There is a strong sense of community in this nursery, and parents speak highly of the leaders and staff. They say they are approachable and provide a nurturing environment for their children.

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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 enter the nursery happily, greeted by a staff team that prioritises their emotional wellbeing and safety. They benefit from a secure environment where they develop strong bonds with their key persons, and this ensures they feel safe to explore. However, the quality of their learning experience is currently inconsistent. While children engage in a variety of activities, such as exploring play dough or building with construction blocks, the curriculum is not always sufficiently challenging. For instance, the most able children sometimes repeat tasks they have already mastered, and staff do not always intervene effectively to extend their thinking or introduce more complex vocabulary. Consequently, while children are busy, they do not consistently make the best possible progress across all areas of learning.

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

Despite these variations in teaching, children demonstrate they are happy and enjoy their time at the nursery. They are becoming more independent, such as when they confidently manage their own hygiene routines or help to tidy away resources. Children behave very well, and their manners are excellent. They play cooperatively, share toys and show kindness to their friends. Children enjoy developing their physical skills as they negotiate the soft-play obstacle course, moving under, through and over.

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

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds receive targeted support. Although the precision of the curriculum requires strengthening to ensure every child achieves their full potential, the nursery remains a nurturing space. Children leave at the end of the day having had a positive social experience and feeling valued.

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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

provide a curriculum and an environment that supports opportunities for all children to develop and make consistent progress across all areas of learning 30/09/2026

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Action Completion Date

improve the quality of teaching and interactions so all staff support and extend children's learning, develop their skills and help them build on what they already know and can do 30/09/2026

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Action Completion Date

make sure that children's next steps are sharply focused and that staff consistently support these next steps in the opportunities on offer and in their teaching and interactions. 30/09/2026

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About this inspection

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

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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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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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Address:

Venning Barracks Donnington TELFORD Shropshire TF2 8JT

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Bears Den Pre-School Partnership

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 09:00 - 15:00

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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

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

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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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