Little Crocs Day Nursery and Pre School

Little Crocs Day Nursery and Pre School
Unique reference number (URN): 2776900
Address: 97 Queensway, Petts Wood, Petts Wood, Orpington, BR5 1SG
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 02/04/2024
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Little Crocs Limited
Inspection report: 2 June 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement
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.

Strong standard
Achievement Strong standard
All children, including those with emerging concerns, make significant progress in their
learning and development given their starting points. They are very well prepared for any
transitions, either between units in the setting or for their move on to school. Babies
thoroughly enjoy messy and creative activities. They confidently use different resources and
tools, such as brushes, sponges and their hands, to make different marks with paints. They
show great excitement while playing in the rain, developing their coordination, pouring water
and watching it run down drainpipes, for instance.
Older children enjoy making a watch during creative play. They exclaim with delight when
they master how to draw the watch face. They show with pride the finished watch on their
wrist. Children transport resources to different areas to extend their learning further. For
example, they move sand between role-play areas to make pretend cups of tea and serve
them to staff. This enhances their natural curiosity and creative development.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard
Across the nursery, there is a highly positive culture of respect and excellent behaviour. Staff
take time to listen to children's views and questions and respond to help children understand
what is happening. Staff take time to listen and respond to babies' early communications,
enabling them to be heard and have a voice. Staff support children extremely well to
manage their behaviour. There are excellent strategies in place to support children to talk
about their feelings. The impact is evident in the superb behaviour that children display.
Children have excellent bonds with staff, which further support children's highly positive
behaviour.
Staff make excellent use of visual timelines to help children understand routines. This
particularly helps to support children who may face challenges with their emotions or other
barriers to engagement and learning. Staff have embedded routines across both units in the
setting. Children of all ages sweep up sand from the floor and help pick up resources to
prevent trip hazards without being asked. Staff work closely with parents and carers to
support regular attendance, helping to close any gaps in their learning and development.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Staff work in excellent partnership with parents and carers to support consistency in
children's routines from home. Younger children regulate their emotions and responses,
deciding to have a morning sleep, for example. Staff sit with them as they sleep. Settling
sessions are expertly adapted to meet children's individual needs. Leaders review which
staff children bond with during settling sessions to ensure that they have a key person who
they can develop secure attachments with. This helps all children to settle quickly into the
setting, ready to start their learning.

Staff carry out 'rolling mealtimes' for all children. This allows children who are still playing to
carry on their learning and come for lunch when they are ready. Mealtimes are highly social
occasions where children sit with staff, talking about the food and the effect it has on their
bodies. Teaching is well embedded, as children clear their plates and place settings without
needing to be asked. Children use a mirror to clean their face after meals. This further
supports children's health and wellbeing. Children grow herbs and vegetables and learn how
to care for them, learning about nature and the world around them. Staff make excellent use
of timelines and sign language to support children to understand what is happening next and
to help them to regulate their behaviour.
Curriculum and teaching Strong standard
Leaders are highly ambitious and provide a curriculum that is fully inclusive and supports
every child that attends. Staff and leaders have extremely high expectations for children.
Activities and interactions are of a consistently high standard, promoting the high
expectations for children's learning and development. Staff are attuned to providing children
with extra challenge to further support them to work towards their goals.
Babies enjoy high-quality activities that meet all of their developmental needs. Children
indicate to staff if they wish to access different resources. They are highly independent,
sharing where they wish to play, indoors or outdoors. Babies excitedly explore sand play.
Staff teach them how to make different shapes using utensils such as their hands, bowls
and spoons. This greatly supports their hand–eye coordination. Older children are expertly
challenged by highly skilled staff. Leaders ensure that children do not fall behind, setting
tailored next steps to progress their learning rapidly as they prepare for their move on to
school.
Staff make excellent use of current events and festivals, combined with children's interests,
to support their learning. For example, during 'health-and-safety week', older children made
traffic lights and used these to learn about road safety. Younger children learn about their
own safety, as staff explain what might happen if they climb on furniture, for instance.
Inclusion Strong standard
Staff quickly identify any emerging worries and swiftly implement focused next steps to help
guide children's learning. Staff and leaders work closely with parents and carers to support
children to help assess emerging needs. They work in close partnership with other agencies
to support children and adapt activities precisely to help progress children's learning and
development further. Communication books support ongoing feedback between the nursery
and home to develop children's progress consistently. Staff also work well with local schools
that children will attend, sharing information on how to support transitions and behaviour
management, for instance. This helps children understand expectations at their new settings
and to become familiar with routines to aid settling.
Staff have a clear understanding of barriers to learning and how to reduce these effectively.
They work closely with parents to review changes to children's behaviour and the impact on
children's learning and development. They then adapt routines to support children's personal
and emotional needs. Leaders continually assess the impact of the learning environment
and how they use additional funding. Staff review children's progress and the impact of how

funding is used to support children's learning and development. This allows staff to identify
any further support children may need moving forward.
Leadership and governance Strong standard
Leaders at the nursery have developed a culture of respect and responsibility across both
units. They carry out safe recruitment and follow up on all checks and references to ensure
that staff are suitable to work with children. Full induction processes are in place for new
staff, which leaders ensure are completed prior to staff being given key children. This
enables leaders to review any further training that staff may require before supporting
children. Leaders value staff's wellbeing highly. Leaders and staff support each other and
work together very well. This contributes to a calm atmosphere across the units.
Leaders are highly skilled at identifying staff's training needs and the impact this has on
children, supporting consistently high-quality education and teaching. Leaders review
children's emerging needs and review training for staff to further support progress towards
their targets. Parents and carers value the excellent learning their children access. They
describe how proactive staff are in supporting their children's progress. They value the
consistent communication and suggestions for home learning, providing continuity of care
for children.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children arrive eager to start their day. Children are greeted by staff with cuddles of
reassurance and kind words. All children are engrossed in high-quality activities that greatly
support their learning and development. Older children thoroughly enjoy making sensory
dough. They work with staff and use various herbs to scent the dough. Staff talk with
children about the smells and what they think they can be. This helps to build on children's
imagination and language development.
Children are extremely well prepared for their next steps in learning. All ages of children gain
valuable independence skills. This prepares them well for transitions between units and
school readiness. Children get themselves ready to play outside. They are skilled at putting
on their rain suits and finding their wellington boots. They are fully aware which feet they
need to go on. All ages of children play outside in all weathers, allowing them to decide
where they wish to learn. Staff are deployed well to ensure that all areas of the nursery are
available and safe for children to explore and learn in.

Inspector:
Rebecca Hurst
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2776900
Address:
97 Queensway
Petts Wood
Petts Wood
Orpington
BR5 1SG
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
All children show they feel valued as they play. They eagerly show staff their work, which is
greeted by the same enthusiasm and positive reinforcement. This builds further on children's
self-esteem and their confidence. Children apologise to each other when they bump into
peers as they move around the nursery. They also help each other find pens and paper to
use to write their notes. This builds on the respect staff teach children.
Babies thoroughly enjoy exploring messy activities. They learn how to fill and empty sand
containers. Staff talk to children as they explore, teaching them new words to enhance their
emerging language skills. They use words such as 'more', 'less', 'empty' and 'full' and
describe the textures so babies can extend their language skills further.
Next steps
Leaders should ensure continued improvement to understand and further support barriers
to children's learning to create a sustained and transformational impact.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, special educational needs coordinators and children
and considered the views of parents and carers 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.

Registration date: 02/04/2024
Registered person: Little Crocs Limited
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:30
Local authority: Bromley
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 2 June 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
1 to 4
Total number of places
47
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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