Bright Horizons St John's Wood Day Nursery and Preschool

Preschool

Unique reference number (URN): EY368138 Address: 70 Marlborough Hill, LONDON, NW8 0NH Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 03/01/2008 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Bright Horizons Family Solutions Limited

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Safeguarding standards not met

Leaders have not ensured that there is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that adequately protects children from harm. Those responsible for overseeing safeguarding do not have a secure and robust understanding of safeguarding procedures, including the need for timely referrals to the local authority designated officer and Ofsted. This is despite a recent action set by Ofsted regarding a breach around the safeguarding policy and procedures not being followed in practice.

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Safeguarding standards not met

Safeguarding procedures are not followed consistently and without delay. In addition, not all staff have a robust knowledge of the safeguarding procedures to follow if they have concerns about a child or when an allegation is made against an adult working with children. This is despite attending recent safeguarding training. Leaders have not ensured that staff have a secure knowledge of safeguarding and that they demonstrate this in practice.

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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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Achievement Urgent improvement

Some children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, do not make sufficient progress in their development. Children cannot access high-quality learning experiences because the curriculum is not broad enough and does not cover all areas of learning. Furthermore, it is not consistently embedded in every room. Expectations for all children are not ambitious enough and, as a result, children do not reach their full potential.

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Achievement Urgent improvement

Not every child is prepared for their next stage in learning, including the move on to school. This is because the leaders lack oversight of the curriculum planning and do not ensure that this is implemented in practice. Teaching is not adapted to meet the needs of children. As a result, children's achievement is limited.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Urgent improvement

Leaders do not have a clear oversight of how behaviour is managed in every room. Boundaries are not always consistent, which leads to children not learning what is expected of them. Due to weaknesses in the curriculum, some activities do not sustain children's interest or motivate them to learn. Staff do have routines in place, such as reminding children to wash their hands before mealtimes and encouraging them to sit and listen to a story. However, there are times when activities have not been thoroughly thought through to meet children's individual needs. As a result, some children become bored and display unwanted behaviour, which is not effectively managed by staff. This does not create a positive learning environment for children. In addition, not all children are taught consistently how to manage their feelings and emotions, which again results in poor behaviour.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Urgent improvement

There are some positive interactions and relationships between staff and children. Children regularly share their achievements with staff exclaiming, 'I've done it!' when completing a task. Staff praise children's efforts.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Urgent improvement

The key-person system is not effective enough for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff know the children, but the buddy key-person system has not been embedded. As a result, not all the staff know the children's individual needs well enough to be able to support their emotional wellbeing.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Urgent improvement

Staff do not have consistent strategies to support children who have difficulties regulating their emotions. They are not fully aware of what they can do to help children begin to calm themselves. In addition to this, hygienic sleep practice is not always followed in the baby and toddler rooms. Bedding is not clean or stored appropriately to prevent the spread of infection. Also, sleep routines are not well established to support children's sleep needs. For example, there is not always a sleep mat available when children are ready to sleep. Children do receive well-balanced meals and snacks to support good nutrition.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Leaders do not have an ambitious curriculum for every child, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders do not ensure that teaching is consistent in every room, in particular the baby and toddler room. This means that not every child, including those with SEND, has access to individualised learning to support their development.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Children do not make enough progress. Leaders do not ensure that teaching is delivered to a high standard throughout the nursery to build on children's knowledge and skills. For example, during play, there are times when communication and language are not promoted to support children's vocabulary. Children who speak English as an additional language have visual cards to support their understanding. However, staff do not make best use of these and, as a result, children are not supported to link words with objects. Furthermore, although babies hear nursery rhymes being sung to them, staff sing quickly so babies are less likely to pick up on the language they hear. There are times when children do have some considered activities, such as learning about nature. Staff ask children questions, such as 'What does soil feel like, how does it smell and can you describe the spider?' However, teaching is not typically like this across the nursery.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Children hear numbers and repeat these during play, and learn mathematical language, such as 'big' and 'small'. Children enjoy playing outdoors using trikes and climbing and balancing, which helps to build core strength.

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Inclusion Urgent improvement

Expectations for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are poorly managed by leaders, which means that not all children have access to an ambitious curriculum to meet their individual needs. Leaders have only recently taken appropriate action to identify and assess some children's needs to begin to reduce barriers to learning. However, support from the local authority and other health professionals is either not accessed quickly enough so that meaningful interventions can be put in place to fully support learning or not accessed at all. Children with SEND are not always identified correctly. This means that not all children's needs are fully known or supported. Leaders have not ensured that staff have accessed specialist support to raise their teaching to an effective standard and make adaptations to meet the needs of every child.

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Inclusion Urgent improvement

Children's next steps are inconsistent and sometimes poorly considered. They do not focus on what children need to learn next to close the gaps in their learning. These weaknesses have a negative impact on children with SEND in terms of both their learning and wellbeing.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders do not have sufficient oversight of the nursery to ensure that safeguarding is robust and procedures embedded. This is despite a recent action being raised by Ofsted relating to safeguarding policy and procedures. Leaders have ensured that staff have completed safeguarding and childcare training, but some staff still do not have the required level of knowledge to ensure they are able to follow safeguarding procedures correctly, which leaders have failed to recognise.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Recent changes identified by leaders to improve teaching has had some impact within the pre-school room. However, this is not consistent throughout the nursery. Leaders do not ensure that all staff to child interactions are of a consistently high quality and that teaching is well targeted to build on children's knowledge and skills. As a result, children do not achieve as well as they should from their starting points on entry to the nursery.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders have not ensured that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive sufficient support. They do not seek the necessary advice or guidance from other professionals in a timely way. As a result, children's individual needs are not consistently met to help them reach their full potential. Leaders do not ensure that effective hygiene practice is being followed by staff, especially regarding sleeping arrangements. Leaders have introduced new staff supervision processes. However, these are not embedded to ensure staff receive support to improve practice and deliver consistently high-quality teaching in all rooms.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has not 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 not 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

Leaders do not demonstrate the capacity to identify and respond to concerns about children or allegations against staff in a timely way. Staff do not have robust knowledge of the safeguarding referral systems beyond speaking to managers if they have concerns about a child's safety. Although staff have received safeguarding training, they still do not show that they know the processes to follow so that timely referrals are made to the relevant authorities. Leaders and staff do not ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported sufficiently. As a result, not all children are reaching their full potential. Although there is a key-person system in place, during staff absence the buddy key-person system is inconsistent and poorly arranged. During these times, not all staff have a thorough understanding of children's individual needs. As a result, activities are not

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

sufficiently planned to ensure all children have quality learning experiences. In some rooms, particularly the toddler room, this has an impact on children's behaviour. Staff do not always provide children with clear and consistent instructions. This results in an inconsistent approach to ensuring children have clear boundaries during play. There are times when children struggle to regulate their emotions and, as a result, they demonstrate unwanted behaviour. This is not consistently challenged by staff so that children gain an understanding of how to treat their friends with kindness.

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

Leaders have focused on improving the teaching in the pre-school room, but this has not been replicated throughout the nursery. This means that not all children have access to high-quality teaching and purposeful interactions from staff. In addition, hygienic sleep arrangements are not followed in the baby room. Appropriate arrangements are not in place to ensure that children have their own clean bedding. Precautions are not taken to prevent any cross-contamination or the possible spread of infection.

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

On arrival to the nursery, children are warmly greeted by staff, who are kind and supportive in settling children in for the day. This helps them to feel secure and ready to take part in the activities on offer. Older children enjoy playing with their friends and share their experiences with staff. Staff talk to older children during play, so that language is beginning to build. However, the support for communication and language is not consistent for every child, including those with SEND.

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Next steps

The provider is not meeting the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Childcare Register and Ofsted intends to take enforcement action.

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Next steps

We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to have taken the following actions by the assigned date:

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Action Completion Date

ensure that the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) has a secure and robust understanding of safeguarding procedures, including the requirement to make timely referrals to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and notifications to Ofsted when a child may be at risk of harm or when an allegation is made against a member of staff. Leaders must ensure that safeguarding procedures are followed consistently and without delay 28/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure staff develop a secure and consistently applied understanding of safeguarding procedures, including how to recognise when concerns meet the threshold for referral and the correct procedures to follow in line with local safeguarding partners, if they have concerns about a child, or an adult working with children 28/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure that staff receive targeted support and training, informed by effective supervision and monitoring of practice, so that teaching is consistently strong and staff are able to plan and delivery high quality learning and development experiences that meet the needs of all children, including those who require additional support or have SEND 28/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure the key person system is consistently implemented and effective in meeting children's individual needs. Leaders must ensure that all staff, including buddy key persons, have a secure and shared understanding of children's needs, next steps and support strategies at all times, including during staff absence or changes in staffing 28/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure that staff use consistent, appropriate and effective behaviour management strategies that support children to understand expected rules and boundaries and to promote positive behaviour 28/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure that there are effective arrangements in place to identify, assess and support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders must ensure that staff use appropriate strategies to meet children's individual needs and that timely support is sought from external professionals where required 28/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure that effective procedures are in place and consistently followed to provide hygienic sleeping arrangements. Leaders must ensure that bedding is checked regularly, kept clean, and stored appropriately to prevent the spread of infection and to support children's health 28/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

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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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Bright Horizons Family Solutions Limited

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Address:

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

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Action Completion Date

ensure that teaching is targeted effectively to meet children's individual needs 29/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

improve the programme of communication and language development to help children build on language skills 29/05/2026

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About this inspection

The inspectors spoke with the manager, deputy manager, the third in charge, the special educational needs coordinator, the leadership team, staff, children and parents 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. Local authority: Westminster

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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. 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

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