The Wantage Nursery & Preschool

The Wantage Nursery & Preschool

Unique reference number (URN): 2803376 Address: 6-7 Church Street, Wantage, OX12 8BL Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 19/08/2024 Registers: EYR Registered person: Oxfordshire Nurseries 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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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Warm, positive relationships are fostered through the thoughtful matching of key workers' strengths to the individual needs of children. This approach results in positive, secure bonds with staff who know and understand the children in their care exceptionally well, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those who may face barriers to learning. Consequently, children feel safe, comforted and emotionally secure, enabling them to develop confidence.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Routines are fully embedded across the setting, including during transitions and mealtimes. These routines are carefully designed to promote children's independence. For example, toddlers know when it is time to sleep and confidently find their own sleep space, removing their shoes and clothing with ease. They also sit together during group time and happily wait their turn to recognise their name and walk over to register it on the board. Children are calm, settled and ready to participate in the day's activities.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Staff provide a wealth of opportunities for children to work collaboratively, demonstrate kindness and practise turn-taking. For instance, in the sandpit, staff gently encourage children to take turns as they work together to collect water in buckets to wet the sand. Children consistently show high levels of respect, cooperation and patience, which staff notice and warmly commend.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders promote regular attendance and punctuality, working in partnership with families who require support and offering flexibility, such as adapting session times to suit individual children's needs. This ensures that all children can benefit fully from the setting's routines and learning experiences.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children's personal, social and emotional development is of the utmost importance to leaders and staff. They prioritise children's wellbeing and sense of belonging, which is reflected in children's confidence to share their ideas and talk about themselves. This includes 2-year-olds, who follow well-established routines and settle extremely well. Staff build nurturing relationships with children, helping them to thrive. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning form particularly endearing relationships with their key person. They have the confidence to engage in play and regularly return to their key person for reassurance. Children are curious learners and well prepared for transitions between rooms and for their eventual start at school.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Secure bonds and attachments between staff and children, from babies through to pre- school, are clearly evident. Children implicitly trust staff and seek them out when they need support. Staff remain responsive to children's individual needs and to changing family circumstances. For example, staff sensitively play alongside less-confident children, narrating their actions to encourage interaction.

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Expected standard

Well-structured routines support children's self-care skills and help them develop healthy habits. Mealtimes are sociable occasions where children sit with staff and chat about their day. Staff promote healthy choices, and children respond positively. For instance, children eagerly remind staff to add their names to the 'clean plate club' list when they finish their meal. This motivates them to try new foods and supports the development of healthy eating habits.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders ensure that children's individual needs, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are identified very quickly. They act immediately to implement necessary changes and seek support from wider professionals. As a result, children receive the right help straight away and are able to thrive. Leaders consistently consider potential barriers to learning and use additional funding effectively to enrich children's experiences and meet their individual needs. For example, they identify gaps in children's experiences and purchase toys and materials that provide new opportunities for play and learning. Staff make excellent use of these resources to remove barriers. They encourage children to focus their attention by offering cause-and-effect toys, which help children with SEND to concentrate and achieve a clear outcome.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders and staff continually review and adapt their approach. Staff working with children who have SEND or who face barriers to learning benefit from comprehensive training to ensure they can meet children's needs effectively. For example, staff supporting children at risk of delay in communication or physical development work alongside specialists who teach them strategies to help strengthen children's muscles over time. Staff embed this learning and apply these strategies consistently in daily routines. This has resulted in considerable progress for children with SEND. Leaders also maintain a clear oversight of children known to social care or who are disadvantaged. They work tirelessly to support all aspects of these children's progress and development. Families receive high levels of assistance, such as help with paperwork and regular discussions about their children's learning.

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Achievement Expected standard

Typically, all children achieve well from their varying starting points. Gaps in learning, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning, close over time. Children develop the key skills they need for starting school. Older children grow in confidence as they build their physical skills, such as balancing and swinging, which strengthens their core muscles. They also have many opportunities to develop hand strength and hand–eye coordination through activities such as drawing, scooping, feeding themselves and manipulating play dough.

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Achievement Expected standard

Babies show strong motivation to listen to stories. They sit with staff for extended periods, learning how to turn the pages of a book. They join in with action songs and move their bodies to the rhythm. Babies hear new words as they engage in back-and-forth exchanges with staff. Toddlers show a keen interest in exploring sand, enjoying digging and filling buckets. Older children delight in cutting their own fruit and talking about how they can cut it in 'half' or make it 'smaller'. Children approach new experiences with positive attitudes. However, at times, some children's ideas are not extended, meaning they do not always learn beyond what they already know.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have a clear understanding of the setting's curriculum. Through observation, supervision and discussion, they ensure that the curriculum is typically delivered well and that key focus areas are implemented effectively. Leaders emphasise communication and independence as essential skills. This is demonstrated when staff promote older children's independence by supporting them to lay the table at lunchtime and to self-serve their meals. However, leaders recognise some variations in how staff implement the intended curriculum across different rooms. This results in inconsistent learning experiences for some children. For instance, some staff do not consistently follow children's interests, such as babies who enjoy physical activities. Despite this, children elsewhere have ample opportunities to develop their physical skills in the well-designed outdoor areas. Leaders take an inclusive approach to ensure they can successfully support children of different ages and abilities and

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Overall, the curriculum is fair, accessible and taught well by most staff. Children experience a wide range of opportunities to develop their communication and language skills. For example, staff working with babies sing songs, read stories and chat with them as they pop bubbles together. Older children learn the names of dinosaurs and discuss their characteristics. Staff skilfully follow children's interests to explore imaginative scenarios, such as an erupting volcano. However, some less-confident staff do not always support children's play and learning as effectively and may lack the skills to extend children's thoughts and ideas. This means that, at times, some children do not learn beyond what they already know and can do.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Overall, leaders support staff to develop their knowledge and skills through training opportunities and team meetings. For example, staff report that recent training on babies' brain development has helped them to better understand and respond to babies' needs. Staff are familiar with the curriculum and clear about what they want children to achieve. However, some staff's professional development is not targeted well enough. As a result, some areas of the nursery have less-experienced staff than others, which impacts the consistency and quality of curriculum delivery.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders work confidently in partnership with parents, carers and other professionals. Staff communicate with families through daily discussions and an online platform. Parents spoken to during the inspection report positive communication with staff and say their children are settled and happy. Leaders ensure that they gather appropriate information so that ongoing communication about children's learning and progress leads to targeted plans and timely intervention when needed. This includes additional support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff also say they feel well supported regarding their wellbeing and workload through regular supervision sessions.

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

Children are happy and settled in this fully inclusive nursery. Staff welcome them with warm smiles, and children delight in spending time with familiar adults, chatting about their homes and experiences. They enjoy targeted activities that support every child's learning, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children look proud when staff praise their efforts and are eager to share what they know. For example, they concentrate as they choose toy animals from song sacks, singing familiar rhymes together and gesturing to their key person.

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

Children behave exceptionally well. They are calm, polite and enjoy spending time with one another. They listen patiently to different viewpoints, including those of their peers, and take turns to speak, showing high levels of respect. Typically, children are skilfully supported to make independent choices, such as which group activities to join or which stories to explore. Generally, their interests and preferences are highly valued by staff. When children who face barriers to learning do not wish to join mealtimes, staff sensitively adapt routines and approaches to give them the time and space they need.

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

Interactions between children and staff are genuine, responsive and reciprocal. Staff give children time to talk, actively listen and respond sensitively, offering narrative during play to develop communication and language skills. For example, staff repeat simple words to babies exploring play dough, such as 'pat'. Older children enjoy lively conversations with staff about the foods they are preparing in the role-play area, such as 'muffins' and how many 'slices' they need. Children are confident communicators who use a wide vocabulary to express their ideas.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue to embed the curriculum across all age groups to ensure consistency in children's learning, including the provision for babies' physical development.

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Oxfordshire Nurseries Limited

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Address:

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

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Address:

Local authority: Oxfordshire Leaders should enhance professional development opportunities to raise the quality of teaching interactions to the same level across the setting.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, parents and children and those with roles, such as the special educational needs coordinator and designated safeguarding lead, 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

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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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

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

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