Paws Nursery School

Paws Nursery School

Unique reference number (URN): 2809267 Address: Paws Nursery, Hayley Green, Warfield, Bracknell, RG42 6BS Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 04/09/2024 Registers: EYR Registered person: Paws Nursery School 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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Achievement Strong standard

All children, including those with barriers to their learning, make strong progress across all areas of learning and development from their individual starting points. Children develop the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for the next stage in their learning, including the move to school, extremely well. They are confident communicators, curious learners and resilient problem solvers, who demonstrate high levels of engagement and perseverance in their play.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children develop independence skills from an early age and take responsibility for tasks within daily routines. For example, younger children begin to help put their clothes on after a nappy change, while older children independently select water from the outside tap, manage risks safely and take pride in completing tasks for themselves. Children demonstrate high levels of self-confidence, self-care and motivation to learn.

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Achievement Strong standard

Through rich experiences with books, familiar nursery rhymes and meaningful conversations, children confidently express their ideas, share their thoughts and use new words in their play and interactions.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders and staff are excellent role models for all the children, consistently demonstrating calm, respectful and positive interactions. For example, staff teach children the importance of asking for consent before tickling another child. As a result, children learn from an early age to advocate for themselves. Staff deploy themselves effectively to support children's play, which helps children to learn how to work collaboratively with others.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Staff skilfully adapt their approaches to meet children's individual needs. They know how each child reacts and use this knowledge to respond flexibly to support them, for example, by offering reassurance or adjusting activities. This helps children to regulate their behaviour and remain engaged in learning. As a result, children increasingly manage their own feelings and behaviour, and participate extremely positively in the routines of the setting.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders and staff consistently use highly effective and inclusive approaches to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, particularly during daily routines. For example, children receive dedicated support from their key person, who guides them using embedded strategies, such as visual prompts.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders understand the importance of children attending their sessions and work closely with parents to promote regular attendance, swiftly following up on any absences.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children thrive in their emotional wellbeing because they benefit from trusting relationships with kind, nurturing and empathetic adults. Staff are highly attentive to each child's individual needs, including children with special educational needs and/or barriers to learning, and can speak knowledgeably and confidently about all children's development and interests.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children develop positive hygiene practices and follow daily routines confidently. They independently wash their hands before meals and after using the toilet, showing a secure understanding of good hygiene. Staff consistently explain the importance of these routines. Leaders and staff place significant emphasis on promoting children's health and wellbeing. They implement highly effective risk assessments and robust procedures for eating and supervision, ensuring children's safety and wellbeing remain a priority throughout the day. Staff consistently support children to develop age- and stage-appropriate knowledge that they need to stay safe. For example, children are taught the importance of keeping well hydrated on a hot day. Staff engage children in meaningful conversations about healthy food choices at mealtimes and work closely with families to encourage healthy packed lunches.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children are extremely well supported to develop an understanding of their physical abilities in the outdoor space. For instance, they take supervised risks when using climbing equipment and learn to manage their own safety.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders have designed a curriculum that meets the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning. Staff carefully plan provision which enables high-quality teaching, resulting in children being highly engaged in their play and learning. Staff enable children to lead their own learning while adapting their teaching to meet the children's individual needs and stages of development effectively.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff use every interaction as a teaching opportunity. For example, during outdoor play, staff skilfully question children about a snail they have found, further developing their knowledge and understanding of the world and care for living things. Staff frequently introduce new words to extend children's vocabulary through meaningful conversations.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff gently support children to take part in increasingly risky activities and challenge themselves physically within the inviting outdoor environment. For example, children enthusiastically transport logs from one area to another. They work together, with adult support, to problem solve how to safely reach ropes to swing from tree branches. As a result, children learn about taking risks and develop their gross motor skills.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff use every opportunity to teach mathematics throughout the setting. For example, during water play staff encourage children to count the frogs on the lily pads, challenging children to add one more and say how many there are now.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders and staff create a highly inclusive environment in which children feel happy and safe. They establish positive working relationships with parents and external agencies to ensure children with barriers to their learning receive highly effective and consistent support. This helps to give children the best possible start to their education. Leaders are mindful of families' different circumstances and use additional funding to support individual children's needs accordingly.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders successfully support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and their families, to have the right support to prepare them for their transition to school. This makes a positive difference to children's outcomes. All staff know any additional arrangements that children need, to ensure they make progress. They support children with SEND patiently and with skill, consistently using systems to support communication and language, which ensures children stay regulated and able to engage and learn.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff are highly knowledgeable and continue to strengthen their understanding through ongoing training and professional development with a focus on the needs of the children. For example, the whole team has undertaken specific training, which has focused on neuroscience and healthy attachments.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Parents speak very highly of the support they receive and describe how staff go 'above and beyond' to help children with barriers to their learning fully participate in nursery life.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders and staff build highly positive relationships with families, who speak extremely positively about the setting and the clear communication and support they receive from leaders. They describe it as warm and welcoming and value the regular updates they receive. This helps them to feel fully informed and involved in their children's learning. Leaders work closely with families and external professionals to ensure children, who may face barriers to learning, receive appropriate support and reasonable adjustments. Decisions are always taken in the best interests of children.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders have a clear understanding of the setting's context, the local community and the individual backgrounds of families. They know the children in their care extremely well and use this knowledge highly effectively to identify strengths and areas for improvement. For example, they recognise that there is always more to improve and demonstrate a proactive approach to refining practice. Recently, leaders acted on feedback and advice from the local authority early years team to strengthen the teaching of mathematics. As a result, children benefit from a setting that continues to evolve to improve their experiences over time.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders actively support staff's wellbeing and workload. Staff speak very highly of the leadership team and their hands on and caring approach. They report feeling valued and supported through regular supervisions. Staff talk about how they benefit from a range of professional development opportunities, as well as regular team training sessions and staff meetings. Recent training on communication and language strategies has strengthened staff's confidence in supporting children's communication, such as using visual aids.

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

Children arrive happily at nursery with smiles on their faces and are greeted warmly by enthusiastic staff, who know them exceptionally well. This creates a highly nurturing and welcoming atmosphere, where children are eager to begin their day.

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

Children choose how they learn and play alongside staff, who follow their lead while skilfully extending learning through thoughtful interactions. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are highly engaged in the thoughtfully planned experiences available to them. They show curiosity and sustained concentration as they explore activities with excitement. For example, while making potions together in the mud kitchen children demonstrate that they are motivated learners, who enjoy investigating and exploring together during play.

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

Children's language is developed through a wide range of stories, poems and songs, and through highly skilled interactions between staff and children. Children, including those who speak English as an additional language, are well supported to develop their vocabulary and communication. Children join in with songs, nursery rhymes and stories throughout the day. They repeat the new language that staff model. This supports children to become confident communicators.

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

Staff quickly and accurately identify any barriers to children's learning or wellbeing. They are adept at providing precise support to help children overcome these barriers, whatever they may be. Staff know each child as an individual, enabling them to tailor provision to closely match their needs. Children develop the skills they need for the next stage of their educational journey. They are provided with opportunities to practise key skills that will support their transition to school, including early literacy and mathematical development.

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

Children benefit from the close partnerships staff create with parents and carers. They signpost external services, who can provide further support. This means that children and their families get the right help at the right time.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure continued improvement in the setting's successful work to remove barriers for children who need extra help to realise a transformational impact on all children's achievement and wellbeing.

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Address:

Paws Nursery Hayley Green, Warfield Bracknell RG42 6BS

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Paws Nursery School Ltd

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:30 - 16:00

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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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About this inspection

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

A quality assurance visit by an additional inspector was carried out at this inspection. This data is from 24 June 2026

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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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