Valentine Primary School Nursery

Valentine Primary School Nursery

Unique reference number (URN): 2863875 Address: Valentine Community Annexe, Valentine Primary School, Valentine Avenue, Southampton, SO19 0EQ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 28/10/2025 Registers: EYR Registered person: Valentine Primary School

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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, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are making good progress from their starting points. Children access learning that is appropriate to their individual age and stage of development. This helps them build knowledge and skills over time, enabling them to move confidently to the next stage of their learning. For example, babies who are learning to walk develop confidence and stability in their physical skills as they stand and explore water play at the table. Toddlers explore the patterns they can create mixing paint and develop their coordination skills as they use brushes to explore patterns they make. Pre-school children learn to count in order and recognise size and volume, as they become confident in their mathematical skills.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children with identified communication needs make clear progress, they build vocabulary quickly and use new words confidently in their play. They are able to concentrate in larger group activities and persevere when some learning is more challenging. For instance, older children learn the importance of being able to put on their shoes themselves as staff actively encourage this and praise children's efforts.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders have a secure understanding of how attendance and punctuality are important to helping children build positive attitudes to their learning. Staff establish clear and widely understood expectations for behaviour. Where appropriate, staff implement individual behaviour plans to ensure a consistent approach to supporting children's behaviour. Staff use their regular discussions to review strategies, identifying what is working well and where children may need extra support. This enables approaches to be adapted as needed, helping children to make continued progress in their personal, social and emotional development. Children build positive relationships with staff and with their peers. Staff are good role models and use opportunities to promote kindness and respect in daily routines. For instance, staff talk to children at their eye level, listen to their ideas and follow their interests in play. Children gain a positive attitude to learning, such as trying new activities and

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

growing in confidence when they master new skills. For instance, children make their way up the climbing wall, as they proudly show staff how they make their way to the top. Staff recognise and praise children. This helps children to gain a positive attitude to their learning and to feel valued.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff have routines which children know and understand well. For example, before mealtimes, all children wash their hands. They learn how to serve themselves foods, pour drinks and to tidy away plates and cups when they have finished.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders and staff prioritise children's welfare and wellbeing in all that they do. Children build secure, positive relationships with their key person and other familiar staff. These relationships help children settle and regulate their emotions, typically re-engaging with activities following moments of upset, such as separation from a parent or carer. Staff recognise when children, including those who are younger or less confident need comfort. They offer cuddles and reassurance to help children feel secure as the move to play.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children benefit from secure feeding and rest routines, tailored to their needs. For example, staff ensure foods provided to children are prepared and served to reduce the risk of choking. Staff sit with children and supervise them closely as they eat. They teach children the importance of sitting to eat foods, ensuring that children follow these expectations. Staff talk to children about foods they eat and discussions around foods that are healthy choices and those that we eat less often, but enjoy, these conversations help children learn about healthy choices. Younger children, including babies, follow a settled nap routine, supported by a dedicated staff member. This helps to ensure children's physical care needs are met, and supports children's wellbeing.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders and staff are working towards an ambitious curriculum that considers every child, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders oversee that the curriculum is taught with clear intentions. Links with the local school and partnership working help leaders and staff have a clear knowledge of the skills children need to have in readiness for their next stage in learning. The focus on children's communication skills, independence and a love of learning are an ethos that enables staff to focus on these as priorities. Staff plan and create learning opportunities to ensure that children's motivation to learn is threaded throughout their daily experiences. They understand the differing needs of children and overall, plan for what they want children to achieve. Staff plan activities around children's interests. However, some aspects of the precise learning goals identified for

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

individual children are still in the early stages of development and are not yet fully embedded across the nursery to maximise children's overall progress.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff build children's vocabulary, clarity of language and confidence to speak well. They make good use of children's spontaneous play to introduce mathematical knowledge purposefully. Staff recognise the value of physical active play for children, both indoors and outside. They use daily routines to support children's growing independence and to help children to persist when some new skills need extra perseverance.

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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 (SEND) to make good progress and thrive. Staff get to know children, including identify and assessing additional needs children may have. Staff ensure appropriate interventions are swiftly put in place to help narrow gaps in learning. This has been particularly successful in supporting children with SEND and those in receipt of additional funding to develop their communication and language skills. Children who start behind in this area of learning make progress because of the emphasis staff place on developing their speaking and listening skills.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders and staff also take the time to get to know children and their families to support a smooth transition into the nursery. This helps children who find the move from home to nursery challenging to settle into new routines and feel secure. However, for some children who face barriers to learning, leaders do not consistently gather and share the full range of relevant information about their needs. As a result, staff do not always have a complete understanding of children's individual needs, from the outset.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The leadership team have a clear vision for the nursery. They make decisions in the best interests of children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those facing disadvantage and those known, or previously known, to children's social care. Leaders have identified areas for further development and have begun implementing improvements, including providing greater opportunities for outdoor play and enhancing children's understanding of the natural world. Following a weakness in understanding the requirements to notify Ofsted of changes of leadership in the nursery. the provider has reviewed and addressed their understanding of the processes for notifications to Ofsted. This has been addressed, and Ofsted are not taking any further action.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders recognise and value the importance of partnerships with parents, carers and other professionals. Staff update parents on children's daily activities and their overall progress, through conversations and the nursery online platform. Parents speak positively about the nursery, and how children 'race to get to nursery' each day.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders support staff wellbeing and manage workload through regular individual meetings, fostering an open culture in which staff feel confident to raise concerns. Supervision arrangements are still in the early stages of development. There is further scope to strengthen supervision so that it supports staff more precisely in developing their knowledge, skills and overall teaching practice.

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

Children are warmly welcomed into the nursery, and settle happily in the care of staff. Children build strong, trusting relationships with one another. Babies develop secure attachments with key staff, as they return to them for cuddles and a lap to sit in comfortably for song time. Older children learn the values of shared and cooperative play, such as when they offer friends turns with favourite toys. Children feel safe because staff recognise and respond to their individual needs. Where children require additional support with self- regulation, staff respond sensitively and consistently. This helps children to manage their emotions effectively and re-engage in activities, including during times of transition. Children, including those with barriers to learning, benefit from regular routines, as staff track attendance and follow up on any absences. This helps to ensure that children benefit from opportunities to attend regularly, take part in activities and build friendships. These

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

skills contribute to supporting children as they progress to the next stage of their education, including starting school.

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

Children enjoy a broad curriculum, which helps them to make typical progress, from their starting points. They are keen to take part in a range of activities staff create, which ignite their curiosity. For instance, toddlers explore textures of foam, mix differing colours to see what they can can create. They draw and name shapes, as staff join in and sustain children's interests and learning. Children's communication and language skills are promoted throughout the nursery. Babies enjoy song time, as they are encouraged to chose toys that represent favourite rhymes. Staff sing along and children join in with some of the actions. Older children, including those with barriers to learning, take part in group activities which support their listening and concentration skills. For example, during a large group activity pre-schoolers anticipate what is going to happen next, as they point out the big and small flying saucers, watching them launch into the air.

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Next steps

Leaders should review, from the outset, the range of information gathered from parents and shared with key staff to enable barriers to children's learning and development to be more clearly understood. Leaders should build on the arrangements for supervision to help staff strengthen their individual skills and knowledge. Leaders should should continue to refine the precision of identified next steps for all children, so that the impact of teaching and support can be evaluated more consistently.

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Address:

Valentine Community Annexe Valentine Primary School Valentine Avenue Southampton SO19 0EQ

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Valentine Primary School

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Address:

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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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with children, leaders, practitioners 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.

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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

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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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