Cherryli Nursery

Childcare on domestic premises

Unique reference number (URN): 2843282 Registered with Ofsted: 06/06/2025 Registers: EYR

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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 Expected standard

Children make secure progress through the curriculum, building knowledge over time and demonstrating effective recall of previous learning, such as recalling that tongues help them taste and naming flavours, such as 'salty, bitter, sour' and 'sweet'. Staff revisit concepts to ensure learning is embedded before introducing next steps, enabling children to apply new knowledge confidently.

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Achievement Expected standard

Mathematical development is well supported, with children using simple addition and subtraction during play, and exploring early concepts of 'more' and 'less' through water play as they compare quantities and begin to understand volume.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children are curious and inquisitive learners, who move confidently around the setting, exploring with genuine interest and asking questions that help them embed new learning. They show a clear enjoyment in discovering new information and demonstrate an evident thirst for knowledge as they investigate, experiment and make connections in their play. These secure attitudes to learning ensure children are well prepared for the next stage of their development.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children demonstrate cooperation skills and enjoy playing together and forming friendships that help them build their social confidence. They share resources, take turns and show genuine care for one another, often apologising independently if accidental bumps occur. Their eagerness to ask when their friends will be arriving reflects the positive relationships they have developed and the secure sense of belonging leaders have established.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Practitioners actively promote respectful behaviour through the setting's expectations, such as 'be kind, be polite, enjoy the day and keep yourself and others safe', which children understand and follow well. Children's work that is displayed throughout the environment and in their personal scrapbooks further strengthen relationships, giving them opportunities to celebrate achievements together and talk about their families and experiences.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children are enthusiastic and motivated to take part in activities, showing curiosity and a willingness to explore. Practitioners provide praise and encouragement that supports children's confidence. However, on some occasions staff step in too quickly to solve problems for children. This reduces opportunities for children to practise perseverance, trial and error and independent thinking.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders place strong emphasis on punctuality and attendance and all absences are followed up promptly. Leaders are proactive in supporting and providing flexible approaches to attendance to help remove barriers for families.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders prioritise children's welfare and wellbeing, creating a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment, where every child's voice is heard and valued. Daily care practices are highly effective in meeting individual needs. Secure, trusting relationships enable children to confidently express their needs, supported further through the daily 'hello song' that asks each child 'How are you feeling today?', helping to promote emotional literacy and a sense of belonging.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children demonstrate growing independence and autonomy, managing their own self-care by using the toilet, washing their hands and wiping their faces, understanding why these routines keep them healthy. Staff model and teach healthy choices, discussing balanced meals and providing nutritious snacks, such as rice cakes and bananas and a freshly cooked hot lunch every day. Children safely self-serve using small jugs and bowls.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders ensure safer eating and sleeping practices are embedded, with staff positioned within sight, food prepared to minimise choking risks, and calm sleep routines tailored to the age and stage of children's needs.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Practitioners explain rules and boundaries, so children understand how these keep them safe, laying the foundations for early risk assessment. Children confidently discuss among themselves, where to safely ride the bikes in the garden to avoid other equipment and children playing.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have a secure understanding of the quality of the curriculum and teaching, using weekly individual child planning, next step reviews and daily staff evaluations to make swift, purposeful improvements. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language make typical progress because staff know their starting points well and adapt teaching appropriately, including modelling tool use or providing visual aids where needed.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The curriculum is thoughtfully designed and meets all learning and development requirements, offering varied opportunities for imaginative play, language development, early mathematics and physical skills. Assessment is used effectively to check what children know and can do, and how practitioners plan to extend learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Practitioners purposefully build children's vocabulary through stories such as encouraging children to join in familiar refrains and discuss what they see. They also help children to correct misconceptions sensitively and model precise language. Practitioners are skilled at providing a narrative to children's play. However, in more direct play situations some practitioners often rely on closed questions or respond without extending children's ideas, which limits children's opportunities to engage in deeper conversation and develop richer language skills.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The setting provides a welcoming and inclusive environment, where children's individual needs are identified, assessed and met effectively. Leaders and staff recognise that several children speak English as an additional language and use key word lists in children's home languages to support communication, reduce barriers and help children feel settled and secure. Resources throughout the setting positively represent all cultures, and parents are invited to come in and share stories in their home languages, further strengthening children's sense of identity and belonging.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff regularly review children's progress with parents, holding sensitive discussions when gaps in learning emerge and ensuring early intervention is prioritised. They understand the referral process well and work closely with the local authority and other professionals when additional support is required, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This partnership approach ensures that children receive timely, coordinated help that reflects their circumstances.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Visual routines are embedded throughout the environment, enabling all children to understand what is happening now and next, promoting emotional security and independence. Leaders are committed to removing barriers to attendance and engagement, working flexibly with families to ensure children can access their funded hours and participate fully in learning.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leadership and governance are well established, with leaders demonstrating a clear understanding of the setting's context, strengths and areas requiring improvement. Leaders deliver effective coaching and mentoring while working alongside practitioners, enabling staff to observe effective practice and provide greater consistency across the team. Regular supervision ensures staff understand their roles and have meaningful opportunities to identify training needs, while leaders' approachable manner and prioritisation of staff wellbeing contribute to a positive working culture.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Professional development is purposeful and ongoing. Leaders engage in training and actively seek new approaches to enhance children's experiences. Partnerships with external agencies are used effectively, when additional support is required. Leaders act on identified areas for improvement and maintain a reflective approach to strengthening practice, ensuring the curriculum, safeguarding arrangements and daily organisation remain responsive to children's needs.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Parents consistently describe the setting as nurturing, welcoming and highly supportive, highlighting the visible progress their children make. Parents value the regular reviews with key persons, where children's progress, next steps and home learning ideas are discussed openly, creating a shared understanding of how best to support each child.

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

Children experience a warm, welcoming environment, where they belong, arriving happy, excited and ready to start their day. Those who have attended for some time separate confidently from their parents, while newer children settle quickly with the reassurance of familiar adults and a secure key-person system that helps them feel safe, valued and understood. The atmosphere is joyful and inclusive. Staff are enthusiastic in their roles, dancing with children during circle time, joining them at the water tray to make bubbles and engaging in playful interactions that show genuine interest in each child. Children respond positively to this nurturing approach, seeking adults out to share discoveries. This consistent emotional availability helps children feel secure, enabling them to participate fully and build trusting relationships.

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

Children achieve well because they are curious, motivated learners, who explore with confidence. They show a growing interest in the world around them, pointing out birds singing in the garden, aeroplanes overhead and ants moving through the mud after rainfall. These moments of discovery deepen children's understanding of their environment and strengthen their early scientific thinking. Staff build on children's interests, encouraging them to investigate and make connections, helping them develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed for the next stage of their learning.

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

Children thrive because systems and routines are well embedded and oversight is effective. Clear expectations, consistent relationships and responsive adults ensure children are kept safe and supported, whatever their background or individual needs. Staff are attentive and present, enabling children to flourish in all areas of their development.

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Next steps

Leaders should support staff to use open-ended questions more consistently to extend children's communication, language and thinking during activities. Leaders should help children to solve problems more independently to develop children's resilience, perseverance and independent thinking skills.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with staff, leaders, parents and children during the inspection.

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About this setting

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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25

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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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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