The Home Nursery

The Home Nursery

Unique reference number (URN): 2817434 Address: The Little School, High Street, Barlborough, Chesterfield, S43 4ET Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 03/12/2024 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: The Home Nursery Chesterfield 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

Leaders establish clear expectations for behaviour, attitudes and daily routines. The nursery provides a welcoming and nurturing environment where children feel safe and secure. Staff understand their responsibilities and apply expectations consistently. Leaders maintain effective oversight of attendance, following up promptly when children are absent and working closely with families to identify and address concerns. This supports children's welfare and minimises potential disruption to learning.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children develop secure and trusting relationships with staff, who interact with them in a calm, respectful and reassuring manner. Children consistently behave well, demonstrate kindness and respond positively to adult guidance. When children experience difficulties, staff provide sensitive support and encouragement, helping them manage their emotions and return to learning and play.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning and increasing independence in managing routines. They listen attentively during shared activities, move confidently between experiences and understand expectations such as waiting, sharing and taking turns. Staff promote emotional development through conversations about feelings, relationships and respectful behaviour. Familiar, predictable routines help younger children feel secure and engage confidently.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders recognise and respond to children's individual needs. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive appropriate targeted support. Staff work collaboratively to ensure consistency in behaviour management. Consequently, children develop confidence and resilience and are well prepared for future learning.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Children benefit from an inclusive and nurturing environment where leaders and staff have a strong understanding of their individual needs and circumstances. Information gathered through settling-in sessions, including children's starting points, interests, routines and family backgrounds, is used effectively to inform planning and ensure children receive appropriate support from the outset. Staff know their key children well and work closely with parents and other professionals to provide consistent and responsive care.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders are highly committed to removing barriers to learning and recognise that these can arise from a range of factors, including disadvantage, family circumstances, parental mental health, domestic abuse and special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Practical support, such as signposting families to community services, accessing food vouchers and providing additional opportunities, helps to improve children's wellbeing and engagement. Early years pupil premium funding is used effectively to increase attendance, enhance learning experiences and provide resources and training that benefit children's development.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Children with SEND receive carefully tailored support. Staff use observations, baseline assessments, sensory audits and individual support plans to identify needs and monitor

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Expected standard

progress accurately. Leaders work closely with parents, the local authority and specialist agencies to secure timely interventions. Targeted sensory provision and personalised strategies help children develop confidence, engagement and independence. As a result, all children are fully included in the life of the setting, make consistent progress from their starting points and are well prepared for their next stage of learning.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leadership and governance are strong across the nursery. Leaders have a clear vision for providing high-quality care and education and maintain high expectations for children's learning, development and wellbeing. Through effective monitoring, self-evaluation and research-informed practice, leaders have an accurate understanding of the nursery's strengths and areas for development. For example, they identified the need to review the curriculum to better reflect children's changing needs and interests. As a result, the curriculum has been enhanced to provide more meaningful and relevant learning experiences.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

A culture of continuous improvement is firmly embedded. Regular leadership and staff meetings encourage reflective practice and contribute to ongoing improvement planning. Staff benefit from targeted training in safeguarding, communication and language, emotional wellbeing and sensory approaches. This has strengthened practice, with staff confidently extending children's vocabulary, modelling language effectively and providing activities that support engagement and regulation.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Effective induction, supervision and coaching support a knowledgeable and committed workforce. Staff report feeling valued through a range of wellbeing initiatives, including birthday hampers, company events and 'Wellbeing Wednesdays'. Partnerships with parents are highly effective. Parents speak extremely positively about the leadership team and the progress their children make. Families also benefit from practical support, including access to community services, food vouchers and ongoing guidance from leaders during holiday periods when needed.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children make typical progress across all areas of learning and develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed. They form secure and trusting relationships with their key person, settle quickly into the setting and demonstrate emotional security when separating from parents and carers. This provides a strong foundation for future learning, enabling children to engage confidently in play and participate fully in the curriculum.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children develop age-appropriate communication and language skills. They listen attentively to stories and conversations, respond thoughtfully to questions, and increasingly use a broad range of vocabulary to express their ideas and experiences. This includes children who speak English as an additional language, who are well supported to develop their understanding and communication. Children grow in confidence, independence and social awareness. They play cooperatively, take turns and show consideration for others. During outdoor play, children explore sand and water, counting scoops, identifying textures and discussing shapes, strengthening their mathematical, physical and language development through purposeful, hands-on experiences.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders provide effective strategic leadership of children's welfare and wellbeing. They place the children's emotional wellbeing, belonging and care at the centre of the setting's work. Children's healthy lifestyles are promoted, and children enjoy nutritious snacks and drinks. Children are supported with oral health through activities, while older children take part in early years supervised toothbrushing.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders ensure that parents understand the importance of providing a healthy lunch box and good oral hygiene and support children to understand online safety. Typically, staff encourage children to be independent through activities such as choosing resources. However, staff do not consistently enable older children to be more independent, particularly during mealtimes, to support their autonomy skills further.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

The environments are inclusive to all children, stimulating and offer safe spaces. Physical play and outdoor exploration encourage children to engage in activities that support their wellbeing. For instance, they enjoy time in the garden looking for insects, talking about and looking at nature. This helps to promote their welfare while staff provide opportunities for children to relax, develop social interaction and build valuable life skills such as confidence, teamwork and communication.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The nursery provides a broad and balanced curriculum that supports children's learning across all areas of development. Daily experiences are planned to promote communication and language. For instance, staff model correct language, encouraging babies to babble, while others skilfully integrate new vocabulary into daily conversation to support children's speech and language development. Opportunities to support physical development and mathematics are woven into play. For example, babies have 'tummy time'. Older children count the legs on the insects and talk about shapes, colours and texture while creating symmetrical butterflies. Additionally, they enjoy taking risks such as climbing trees and riding balance bikes to support their physical development.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The nursery also works closely with local schools to support children's transition to Reception. Although leaders have recently introduced more comprehensive strategies to support children moving on to school, such as activities focusing on developing children's emotional and social skills, these developments are in the early stages of implementation and do not consistently build on what children already know and can do.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Partnerships with parents, external professionals and other early years settings help to ensure continuity in children's learning for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Information is regularly shared to support children's individual needs. This enables a 2-way approach to children's development.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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

Children are happy, settled and eager to begin their day as they arrive at the nursery. They quickly immerse themselves in play and exploration. Warm, trusting relationships with staff help children feel secure and safe. Familiar adults are always available to offer reassurance,

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About this setting

encouragement or support whenever it is needed, enabling all children to approach new experiences with confidence.

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About this setting

Children are valued as individuals. Staff have a strong understanding of children's routines, interests and developmental needs as well as any dietary, medical or additional support requirements. As a result, children receive attentive care that promotes their wellbeing and helps them feel respected and understood. Children are kind, considerate and respectful towards one another. They take turns, share resources and develop positive friendships, supported by staff who consistently model caring and respectful interactions.

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About this setting

Children understand boundaries and learn how to assess and manage risks, safely participating in outdoor adventures and physical activities. This helps children develop resilience, responsibility and self-confidence. All children clearly enjoy the wide range of learning opportunities available to them. They eagerly investigate creative materials, construct with purpose, engage in imaginative play and explore their own ideas. Staff encourage children to be curious, think critically and persevere when challenges arise. Children are supported to take risks in their learning, make mistakes and keep trying. They show pride and satisfaction when they achieve what they set out to do and develop the confidence to tackle new challenges independently.

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Next steps

Leaders should consider how daily routines can be further enhanced to consistently promote and develop children's independence. Leaders should further develop their strategies to support children's emotional and social skills in preparation for their move to school.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, children and parents as well as reading feedback from parents.

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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. Unique reference number (URN): 2817434

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Address:

The Little School High Street Barlborough Chesterfield S43 4ET

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: The Home Nursery Chesterfield Limited

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Address:

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