Polam School Nursery

Polam School Nursery

Unique reference number (URN): 2871398 Address: Polam School, 45 Lansdowne Road, BEDFORD, MK40 2BU Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 16/01/2026 Registers: EYR Registered person: Redshift Education 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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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders and staff have embedded clear expectations for behaviour across the setting. Staff consistently role model kindness, care and respect to children from a young age. Over time, this leads children to demonstrate this independently. When children display unwanted behaviour, staff talk to children about what they are doing, and they work together to decide if it is appropriate. For example, in the pre-school garden, children toss sticks over the fence, explaining to staff that the sticks are 'spiders' that they are setting free. Staff create a plan with these children for tidying the sticks up later, understanding why this is important.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Staff provide children with a wide range of activities, linked to their interests. These encourage children to remain at activities for long periods of time, making it easier for them to behave and develop a positive attitude to their learning. Staff actively listen to children and are considerate of their needs, ages and stages of development. For example, staff follow younger children's routines from home and encourage older children to join in with group-time activities when they feel ready to do so. Children build warm, trusting relationships with their key person and other staff members. As a result, children feel secure and settle quickly.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders actively promote the importance of attendance with families, working closely with them to ensure that any barriers to attendance are reduced. This has a positive impact on all children's learning and development.

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Achievement Expected standard

Overall, children make typical progress in their development. They have the knowledge and skills they need to prepare them for their move to school. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make even better progress. The support systems in place ensure that they learn to follow routines, communicate their needs, and build on what they already know and can do.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children build on their knowledge and understanding of their emotions as they move through the setting, learning about their bodies and why they may feel happy or sad. They learn to share resources and take turns as staff join their activities and model these skills consistently. This helps children develop patience and kindness. Older children build on these social skills as staff encourage them to listen, respond and take turns in conversation.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have taken swift action to minimise the risk of children being provided with food they are allergic to. Additional training has been completed and changes to policies and procedures have been implemented effectively. Staff are confident in their knowledge of all children's dietary requirements.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff focus on children's wellbeing, supporting care routines to provide comfort, safety and emotional security. Children form positive relationships with their key person, who know them well and respond to their needs quickly. This safe environment supports all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders have plans in place to build on this even further.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children's personal care needs are supported well, and staff talk to children about what is going to happen next, for example at nappy-changing times. As children move through the setting, they develop further opportunities to build on their independence. For example, babies begin to wipe their own hands and faces with cloths and adult support, while toddlers use these independently. The oldest children go to the bathroom to wash their hands.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff closely follow safe-sleeping practices, remaining in the room with sleeping children and recording and performing frequent checks. The setting provides all meals and snacks, which are linked to healthy eating initiatives. All children have access to outdoor play every day, including through trips out in the local area.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have created a curriculum that builds on what children already know and can do, covering all areas of learning and development. They consistently promote children's wellbeing across the setting and have strategies in place to support children's understanding of their feelings and emotions. Leaders prioritise helping children feel settled and comfortable when they first join the setting. This approach begins with the youngest children and is well established in practice. Leaders' improvement plans include embedding this even further.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff have a good understanding of how to build on children's language development. They talk to children consistently across all age groups, using songs and stories to expose them to even more language. Staff use children's home languages to help those who speak English as an additional language understand familiar words and instructions. This helps children feel included and take part in activities.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff successfully use activities to help children develop transferable skills. For example, they lead a filling-and-emptying mathematics activity in the garden, which begins to build the skills children need to pour their own drinks at lunchtime.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff use timely assessments to identify gaps in children's learning and development and plan appropriate next steps. Although procedures are in place for gathering information from parents, they are not always monitored to ensure that the information is shared, which impacts the timescales for strategies being implemented to narrow gaps in learning and development.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders and staff have high expectations for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to make consistent progress and thrive. For children who speak English as an additional language, staff provide strategies to reduce barriers to learning, such as using their home language to scaffold children's understanding of English. Staff know the children well and use their interests to build on what they already know and can do. They swiftly put plans in place to help narrow any gaps in children's learning. Staff have high expectations that all children will learn the setting's rules and routines, just in their own way.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders work closely with parents and a range of professionals, implementing recommended strategies and providing consistency for children both at home and in the setting. Support plans set high expectations for each child and offer ways to reduce barriers to learning, including adapting routines to ensure that all children can join in and be part of the setting. Additional funding is spent appropriately to reduce barriers to learning, including by purchasing specialist equipment that allows all children to be present at table-based activities. Leaders provide all staff with training, and where staff work closely with specific children, this training is specialised to support children even further.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders across the setting talk passionately about providing high-quality experiences for all children. Additional funding is used appropriately to support children who may face barriers to their learning. Leaders ensure they share improvement plans with the whole staff team to embed practices.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders consistently spend time in the rooms, and work with staff to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the setting's curriculum, policies and procedures. Staff comment on the support they receive from leaders and how they are able to trial their own strategies with leaders' full support. Regular supervisions ensure that staff can share information about children in their care and receive support. Staff complete relevant professional development and use this to enhance their practice. Recent staffing and room leadership changes have affected how consistently staff work together. Staff do not always know how to deploy themselves effectively in the room. This means that, at times, children do not receive consistently high-quality interactions with staff for some periods of time.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders actively engage with families and other organisations to support children's development. Staff share information with parents and offer ideas to extend children's learning at home. Parents speak highly of the leaders and staff, describing the setting as a very special place that is nurturing due to the experience of leaders.

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

Children experience a warm, nurturing and inclusive environment where they are supported to feel safe, valued and confident. Secure relationships with staff help children to develop a sense of belonging. They are happy in the care of staff, who know them well, respond sensitively to their individual needs and work closely with families to provide consistent care and support. Children's development and progress are carefully monitored by staff. When new children join, staff complete starting-point assessments and use this information to plan activities based on each child's interests and needs.

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

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive carefully planned help and guidance. Those who face barriers to learning benefit from consistent, supportive care and adaptations. For example, staff prepare activities at different heights to ensure that they are accessible for all children.

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

Children develop positive social skills and play alongside their peers. Children enjoy their learning and are eager, fascinated and curious learners. They explore measuring equipment together outdoors. Children enjoy talking to each other about the different lengths and the numbers they can see on the tape measures. Children are supported to have a go, and receive praise for being brave when they show persistence while measuring sticks.

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

Children behave kindly and play well together. They know and understand what is expected of them. For example, returning children know that the bell signals the end of garden time, and staff act as role models and support those who are learning this new skill. Staff know that children learn routines by being a part of them. Children know how to keep themselves healthy and safe. They receive effective support to manage their own feelings and to feel calm. For example, older children use emotion tags to show how they are feeling on their emotions tree, while younger children point to different pictures to help them explain.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that staff deployment consistently meets the needs of all children across the setting. Leaders should ensure information is consistently gathered regarding children's starting points.

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About this inspection

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

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Address:

Polam School 45 Lansdowne Road BEDFORD MK40 2BU

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Redshift Education Ltd

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 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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1 to 5

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.

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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

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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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