Partou Stepping Stones Day Nursery & Pre-School

Partou Stepping Stones Day Nursery & Pre-School
Unique reference number (URN): EY392108
Address: 155 Whitefield Road, BRISTOL, BS5 7UB
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 27/07/2009
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Little Acorns (South West) Limited
Inspection report: 30 April 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement

Expected standard
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.
How we evaluate safeguarding
When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:
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.
Achievement Expected standard
All children gain the skills and knowledge they need to prepare them for the next stage of
their learning, including starting school. Through the curriculum, they access a wide range of
opportunities and learning experiences across all 7 areas of learning. Children throughout
the nursery develop confidence in their physical skills. Older children enjoy taking on the
challenge of the obstacle course in the garden, where they practise balancing and jumping
with increasing control. Younger children also show enthusiasm for being active as they
practise climbing and explore the water tray, developing coordination as they pour and
transfer water. Children learn to be independent at meeting their own needs. The youngest
children help to rub their sun cream in as they prepare to go outside to play. Older children
set their place at the table for lunch and serve their own meals.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and attitudes to learning.
Through a well-sequenced curriculum, consistent routines and overall purposeful
interactions, children learn to manage their feelings and behaviour effectively. Children learn
to be kind and considerate towards others and demonstrate positive attitudes that support
their engagement and readiness to learn. When children struggle to share and take turns
with resources most staff act as positive role models. They calmly intervene and talk to
children about how they are feeling. This helps children to share their frustrations and
manage their conflicts.
Staff help children to learn about caring for their environment and resources. For instance,
as older children finish playing in the garden, they eagerly tidy up and make it ready for the
younger children to use. Leaders have worked closely with staff to develop and implement
daily routines that help children to feel secure and confident in the nursery environment.
This supports children to understand what to expect throughout the day, enabling them to

settle quickly and engage in their learning. Leaders recognise the importance of children
being able to access the sessions available to them. They work with families to try and offer
sessions that may be more suitable to maximise children's attendance.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, benefit from
the warm and trusting relationships they form with staff and their key person. Staff are
sensitive to children's individual needs. They model respectful, nurturing interactions. For
example, when applying sun cream to babies, staff take time to explain what they are doing
and why, reassuring them and encouraging their involvement to help them feel at ease.
Leaders implement the key-person system effectively across the nursery. Staff know
children well and work closely with parents to follow established routines, supporting
children to feel safe, secure and ready to engage in their learning.
Staff supervise children well as they play. They use these opportunities to reinforce
messages about personal safety. For example, as children practise balancing and jumping
from the obstacle course in the garden, staff remind others to step back to ensure that the
space around them is safe. Staff encourage children to follow routines around personal
hygiene to help them develop independence and understand how to keep themselves
healthy. They implement routines, supporting children to wash their hands, wipe their noses
and manage their self-care with confidence.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders have a clear and ambitious vision for what they want children to know and learn
throughout their time in nursery. They have focused on developing opportunities that support
children's progress across all areas of learning, prioritising children feeling safe and secure
and developing positive relationships. Staff plan activities that actively engage children and
provide appropriate levels of challenge, helping them to build the skills they need for the
next stage in their learning. Overall, support for children is carefully tailored to each child's
age and stage of development. However, some staff need more confidence with extending
children's learning.
Some staff skilfully extend children's learning through their engagement. For instance, while
children are playing outside, staff weave mathematical learning into play. They encourage
children to find and order numbers that are around different areas of the garden. Children
show high levels of engagement as they recognise familiar numerals and work together to
sort and sequence them. Leaders are also prioritising children's communication and
language development. They have recently introduced an initiative to strengthen early
communication for babies, with plans to extend this approach across the whole nursery.
Throughout the nursery, children enjoy listening to stories and joining in with action songs.
These routines help to build children's vocabulary. Although leaders provide some resources
that reflect children's individuality, there is scope to develop this further by embedding
equality and diversity more fully within the curriculum to celebrate the wide range of
backgrounds, abilities and experiences in the nursery community.

Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders and staff follow established assessment and monitoring procedures to quickly
identify any emerging gaps in children's learning. This ensures that appropriate support is
provided at the earliest opportunity, particularly for children with special educational needs
and/or disabilities and those facing other barriers to learning. Leaders target the use of
funding well to meet the individual needs of the children it is intended for. For instance, they
have accessed equipment to reduce the level of noise in the environment, creating a calmer
and more supportive space for children. They have also accessed some resources that
positively represent abilities among children. This helps to ensure that children can see
themselves reflected in the environment and supports them to feel recognised, included and
valued.
Some staff are confident in supporting children who are developing their language and
communication skills to communicate their needs and to understand what is coming next.
However, this practice is not consistent, which means that some children struggle to
understand what is expected of them. Although leaders recognise this, they have not yet
developed clear strategies to support children who need additional help to follow routines,
manage transitions and engage in their learning.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
There have been some recent changes to the leadership and staffing team. Leaders from
within the organisation have been providing effective support for staff through these
changes. Leaders have accurately identified the strengths and areas for improvement in the
nursery. They have started to meet with staff to reflect on practice and to provide support.
This is having a positive impact on staff wellbeing. Staff say that they are happy in their roles
and are well supported by leaders. They have access to online training to develop their
knowledge and skills further, and leaders encourage this to be completed in work hours to
ensure that staff are not working in their own time. Leaders monitor practice and have
identified that some staff are less confident in supporting children's learning than others.
However, they have not yet provided the focused support and coaching needed to ensure
that all interactions are consistently high quality and promote children's learning effectively.
Leaders and staff work well with families and other professionals to meet the needs of
children who face barriers to their learning, including children with special educational needs
and/or disabilities. Parents compliment the support that their children receive as they face
challenges to learning.

What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children are happy. They separate from their families with ease as the friendly staff warmly
welcome them when they arrive. Staff work closely with parents and carers before children
start, gathering detailed information to help them get to know each child well. This helps
children to feel secure and settle quickly and reduces barriers to learning. Children
demonstrate that they feel confident in the nursery environment. They explore with interest
and make independent choices about where they would like to play. Children are keen to
join in with the activities provided by staff. They play imaginatively with their friends and are
developing the skills to manage minor conflicts with minimal adult support.
Children form secure and trusting relationships with their key person, the staff in their rooms
and their peers. Babies show that they feel safe as they pull themselves up to stand and
seek comfort from staff when they need reassurance. Toddlers excitedly join in with action
songs, eagerly copying the movements modelled by staff. Older children enjoy involving
staff in their play. They work together to create group drawings and talk confidently about the
characters they are creating. Across the nursery, children develop a love of stories. The
youngest children spend time looking at books independently, while older children
demonstrate sustained attention as they listen to staff reading to them.
Children are developing independence and demonstrate a positive, 'can-do' attitude. They
benefit from sociable mealtimes where staff sit with them and engage in meaningful
conversations as children confidently talk about their likes and interests. This supports all
children to develop their communication skills and helps them to build positive relationships
with others.
Next steps
Leaders should implement strategies to support children who struggle to communicate
their needs to understand routines and know what is coming next
Leaders should target support and coaching for staff who are less confident, in order to
raise the quality of interactions with children
Leaders should further develop their curriculum to promote children's awareness of
diversity and to celebrate differences.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke to managers, staff, parents and carers, children and the special
educational needs coordinator during the 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

Inspector:
Victoria Nicolson
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY392108
Address:
155 Whitefield Road
BRISTOL
BS5 7UB
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 27/07/2009
Registered person: Little Acorns (South West) Limited
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Local authority: Bristol City of
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 30 April 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
1 to 4
Total number of places
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.

38
Our grades explained
Exceptional
Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.
Strong standard
The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of
them.
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.
Needs attention
The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary
improvements.
Urgent improvement
The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of
education and/or care.
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects
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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