URN EY495123 · Inspected 2026-03-12 · Published 2026-06-30 · Inspector: Nicole Atkinson Hayley Doncom
Tiny Toes Day Nursery Unique reference number (URN): EY495123 Address: Forest View Family Centre, Sutherland Road, Southampton, SO16 8GA Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 15/12/2015 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Tiny Toes (southampton) Ltd Inspection report: 12 March 2026 Exceptional Strong standard Expected standard Needs attention Urgent improvement Needs attention Safeguarding standards not met Leaders have not ensured that there is an open and positive culture around safeguarding. This puts children at significant risk of harm. Leaders have failed to ensure the safeguarding and welfare requirements are met at all times to assure children's safety and welfare. They do not carry out their safeguarding responsibilities effectively and have not acted with sufficient urgency to address safeguarding concerns about children. Leaders are unclear about the processes for when to report concerns about children, in line with local safeguarding procedures. When this was raised with leaders during the inspection, they still failed to refer concerns in a timely manner to keep children safe. Although leaders and staff have accessed appropriate safeguarding training, they lack clear knowledge and understanding of their child protection responsibilities. Leaders do not maintain an effective oversight of safeguarding practice. They do not ensure that all staff understand and are confident to implement and follow safeguarding policies and procedures, such as whistleblowing. This impacts children's safety, including those children who face barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. 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 Needs attention Due to weaknesses in practice negatively impacting on babies' and children's achievements, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning and/or wellbeing, they are not suitably prepared for their next stage of learning. Interactions with babies and children are inconsistent. This impacts their opportunities to engage in learning to support their development. This does not support children's personal, social and emotional development well enough, which impacts the progress they make. Babies and children take pleasure in choosing books and sharing them with their friends independently. Older children strengthen their communication and language skills as they engage in meaningful back-and-forth interactions with staff and each other. They develop independence skills, such as putting their coats on, and then they help younger children to put on their coats. Older children are active learners and enjoy using their imaginations as they play together in the garden. Babies and children enjoy singing familiar nursery rhymes as they develop their language and literacy skills. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention Leaders have not recognised that routines for babies are not established well enough and this does not support babies to feel settled and secure, especially during transition times. For example, when older babies finish their lunch, staff are not sure who is sleeping in which area. This causes confusion and impacts behaviour, as babies run around on other children's beds. Older children have positive relationships with staff and happily ask for help when they need to. However, babies are inconsistently supported to form warm and trusting relationships with staff, which causes some babies to feel distressed. This does not support babies to establish positive attitudes to learning. Staff teach children how to share and take turns, and most of the time children collaborate successfully during play. For example, children engage in creative activities together, sharing resources and talking about what they are doing. Staff praise children for their efforts, which builds their confidence. However, staff do not consistently provide children with clear expectations for their behaviour. While staff address some incidents of poor behaviour promptly, they overlook others, for example when older children disrupt other children's play or are unkind to one another. This inconsistency means that children are unsure of boundaries and are not always aware of what is expected of them. This does not help children to understand how these behaviours affect their and their friends' safety. Leaders promote the importance of attendance and punctuality; they monitor this through their online system and support families to maintain regular routines. Curriculum and teaching Needs attention Leaders have designed a curriculum that focuses on the areas of learning. However, leaders have not recognised that some staff are unclear on what skills they want children to learn. At times, staff do not think about the impact of the noise levels on babies' and children's learning, especially children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who face other barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. This does not meet the needs of some children with SEND and does not consistently support children in all areas of learning. Leaders' ineffective deployment of staff impacts on the quality of interactions, teaching and engagement staff have with babies. For example, some staff do not know the babies well enough, and at times other staff are too busy completing daily routine tasks to be able to support the babies to feel settled and engage in purposeful play and learning. This does not support babies to feel safe and secure, which impacts their personal, social and emotional development. Where practice is more positive, children benefit from purposeful interactions. Staff working with the older children plan effective learning opportunities outside that support children's physical development. For example, they encourage and support older children to take part in activities where they develop their balance and coordination, which children enjoy with their friends. Staff ensure babies and children have opportunities to listen to stories throughout the day to support their developing language skills. They model key vocabulary and encourage older children to recall stories and talk about what they can see in the pictures. Older children Urgent improvement enjoy group time where they confidently talk about animals. Staff listen carefully to children and use appropriate questioning to extend their learning. For example, they support older children to recall their learning of sign language to describe what the animal is. Staff encourage older children to develop some mathematical language, such as counting during activities. This supports babies' and children's developing language skills. Children's welfare and wellbeing Urgent improvement The lack of oversight by leaders has led to weaknesses in the safety of the provision for babies and children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. Although leaders complete daily risk assessments, they do not identify all risks in the environment, such as trip hazards caused by damaged flooring. Although this was discussed with leaders during the inspection, no action was taken. Mealtime routines do not support babies' needs and development. For instance, staff do not consistently clear up food from the floor after mealtimes, especially in the areas used by babies. This exposes babies to potential risks, including from allergens and choking. Staff are not supported to carry out their key-person role. Leaders do not ensure staff are carefully deployed to enable them to build secure attachments with babies. Most staff working with the babies do not know how to meet their needs. For example, staff do not understand why babies are upset, and they struggle to reassure and comfort them. Leaders do not ensure that all staff understand and implement procedures for putting babies to sleep in a calm and soothing way. This does not support babies to build attachments with staff or make them feel settled, safe or secure. Babies and children are provided with healthy snacks and meals. Staff support babies' and young children's personal care as they change nappies and ensure their privacy when doing so. Nappy changes are recorded and information regarding this is shared with parents via the online app. Inclusion Urgent improvement Leaders have not ensured that all staff have the experience and skills to enable them to assess what it is they want children to learn, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who face other barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. Although some children who have additional funding benefit from some targeted support, this is not effective for all children due to inconsistencies in staff's practice. When staff who have responsibility for children with SEND agree strategies to support learning, leaders do not ensure these are understood and used by all staff. Leaders and staff do not consider the impact of the environment, such as sound levels, especially for those children with SEND. This impacts children's engagement in their learning and wellbeing, including children with SEND and those who face other barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. This does not support an inclusive environment where children can flourish. Some staff have recently extended their knowledge of identifying possible barriers to learning as they completed special educational needs and English as an additional language training. Staff liaise with speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and educational physiologists to agree targets for learning for some children. Leadership and governance Urgent improvement Leaders have not ensured that they maintain a sufficiently robust oversight of their roles and responsibilities to ensure the safe and effective management of all aspects of the setting. There are breaches of statutory safeguarding and welfare requirements, which highlight concerns about leaders' ability to make decisions based on ensuring children's safety. Leaders' decision-making does not always prioritise children's needs or wellbeing, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning. For example, they have failed to make safeguarding referrals about babies and children when there have been concerns. Furthermore, they have not identified the impact of their decisions regarding significant changes to leadership across the setting, including how this impacts the day-to-day running and how this does not support the development of meaningful relationships between staff and babies. Supervision of babies and children is not consistently effective to ensure they receive high-quality interactions from staff to support their learning and development. Leaders have not established a secure culture of continuous improvement. Although staff complete a detailed induction when they start and have ongoing training opportunities, they are not always adequately supported in their roles. Leaders do not consistently provide staff with effective coaching and mentoring. They do not review staff practice effectively to ensure staff have a secure understanding of their role and responsibilities, such as how to meet babies' care needs and how to follow all safeguarding policies and procedures. Compulsory Childcare Register requirements This setting has not met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Compulsory Childcare Register When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes: Met Not met Voluntary Childcare Register requirements This setting has not met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register. How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Voluntary Childcare Register When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes: Met Not met What it's like to be a child at this setting Leaders have insufficient oversight of the quality of the provision to tackle weaknesses in staff practice. Weaknesses in leadership and governance affect the overall quality of care and learning that babies and children receive. Leaders do not fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities. The key-person approach is not effective in practice to ensure that babies' individual needs are routinely met. The curriculum does not give babies and children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning and/or wellbeing, the best start in life, as the current approach does not always foster planned and targeted learning. Children do not develop positive attitudes to learning in readiness for school. Staff welcome children as they arrive at the setting. Children spend time in both indoor and outdoor environments. Older children eagerly put on their coats as they get ready to go outside, where they play together and explore the environment. Children develop small- muscle skills as they dig in sand and use containers to pour and fill. They learn to wait their turn as they line up to cross a balancing beam. Babies and children enjoy sharing books together and with staff and engage in stories throughout the day. Next steps To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must take the following actions by the assigned date: Inspectors: Nicole Atkinson Hayley Doncom About this setting Action Completion Date ensure leaders have sufficient oversight of the provision to identify weaknesses in staff's practice and provide coaching and mentoring to improve their understanding of safeguarding procedures, particularly reporting concerns in a timely manner 13/04/2026 ensure leaders create a positive safeguarding culture, in which whistleblowing is understood and embedded in practice by both leaders and staff 13/04/2026 improve leaders' oversight of staff practice and procedures to maintain children's safety effectively, including supporting staff in identifying potential hazards that may expose children to risks 13/04/2026 establish an effective key-person approach to provide settled relationships and tailored care for babies and children, ensuring staff understand their individual needs and have a clear understanding of sleep procedures and food safety 13/04/2026 About this inspection The inspectors spoke with the leaders, the designated safeguarding lead, the special educational needs coordinator, staff and children 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 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. We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we received about the provider. The provider will be able to give parents further information about this. Unique reference number (URN): EY495123 Address: Forest View Family Centre Sutherland Road Southampton SO16 8GA Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 15/12/2015 Registered person: Tiny Toes (southampton) Ltd Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:00 - 18:30 Local authority: Southampton Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 12 March 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 126 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk. This publication is available at https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk. Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn. Piccadilly Gate Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted © Crown copyright 2026 © Crown copyright