URN 136090 · Inspected 2026-02-24 · Published 2026-04-22 · Inspector: Rachael Williams
Acorns Aviva Unique reference number (URN): 136090 Address: Aviva Centre, Brierly Furlong, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, BS34 8SW Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 23/10/1996 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Acorns Nurseries Limited Inspection report: 24 February 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 Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard Leaders place high priority on children's welfare and wellbeing. When babies and young children become unsettled, nurturing staff promptly reassure and cuddle them. They know the children extremely well and are able to use their interests and favourite toys to distract and re-engage them. Children develop an excellent sense of emotional security. Staff support those children with additional care needs highly successfully. Robust health care plans, readily reviewed with parents and professionals, ensure that staff support children's individual needs extremely well. Children thrive on the healthy snacks and meals prepared by the nursery in a scrupulously clean kitchen. Children learn about healthy eating. Staff consistently encourage children to try new things. For example, when children push their cheese and courgette bread away, staff encourage children to try, and when this does not work, staff explicitly praise another child trying a new food. This motivates children to try for themselves and then exclaim, 'I love it'. Staff consistently give children praise to help them develop very high levels of self- esteem. They provide many opportunities for children to develop their physical health. For example, children enjoy practising their forestry skills and taking part in sports days, walks around the lake, mini athletics and music and movement sessions. Children learn to channel their emotions and energy very well. Inclusion Strong standard Leaders ensure those with responsibilities for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are efficient in their role and understand their responsibilities through effective training. They are highly effective in working alongside key people, parents and professionals to identify any gaps in learning and to efficiently design plans to support children's development. They understand the importance of early intervention and know what children should be achieving and by when. They provide precise, targeted support, which enables well-designed activities such as the 'attention bucket' to help children develop effective attention skills. Children listen carefully to instructions, and most know that they must not touch the resources. All children are included, for example, as they listen to the 'pop' of the sensory toy. Staff are mindful of any emerging gaps in children's learning, ensuring that they complete detailed observations and assessments. Staff calmly and consistently use strategies that are known to work well for children. For example, they use 'now and then' boards and limit the time that children are waiting during transitions to avoid a decline in behaviour. Staff risk assess the environment and adapt it to ensure that all children, including those with physical and health needs, can access a broad and balanced curriculum. They use any additional funding and adapt their teaching styles consistently well to include children who may have barriers to their learning. For example, they provide regular outdoor experiences, including forestry skills sessions, to support children who learn better outside and may not have regular access to outdoor spaces. Expected standard Achievement Expected standard Overall, children make steady progress from their starting points. They develop knowledge and skills across the 7 areas of learning and are well prepared for school. Most children achieve well in their communication and language skills. For example, older babies and older children thoroughly enjoy stimulating and interactive story times. They are excited to learn and demonstrate high levels of attention. However, not all children benefit from these positive interactions as practice is not consistent throughout the nursery. Children develop a growing range of skills that support the next stages of their learning. They show increasing confidence and independence, such as making choices about their play and managing tasks for themselves. For example, older children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and barriers to learning, concentrate well as they thread cereal onto their pipe cleaners to make bird feeders. They carefully think about where these should hang so that the birds can reach them, talking animatedly about their ideas. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard Leaders support parents well to establish consistent routines and understand the attendance policy. There are effective systems in place to follow up on any absences and to ensure that any adaptations can be made to ensure that children attend and are punctual. Children behave well and learn to manage their own emotions and behaviour. Children play nicely together. They are encouraged to solve problems and to avoid minor conflicts. For example, older children debate how they can include more children in their car game. They decide to move the car mat and then think about how they can make the race fair for everyone. Children negotiate well. Staff implement consistent strategies so that children become familiar with rules and expectations. For example, staff remind children to walk around the fire pit when they are in the garden. Leaders provide a relaxing environment that positively supports children's learning, development and care. There is effective provision for children who need help to channel their energy and focus on what matters. All children develop positive relationships with caring, familiar staff. Overall, children are motivated to learn and have positive attitudes to learning, although this is not always consistent. For example, the curriculum is not always implemented as well as it could be to engage children fully in their learning. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard The curriculum is well designed overall and provides children with a broad and balanced range of experiences. Generally, staff understand the importance of sequencing learning. For example, they provide activities that help children build their small-muscle strength to prepare them for later learning. Staff use assessment extremely well to support all children, particularly those who face barriers to their learning and for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They help all children to access a curriculum that meets their individual needs and challenges, especially to support their physical and social development. Although older babies listen attentively to stories and engage extremely well in an interactive story about a hungry caterpillar, this is not always consistent. At times, the youngest babies do not always benefit from purposeful interactions, for example to support their communication and language development even further. Leaders have an accurate understanding of the quality of the curriculum and teaching at their nursery. They have a clear action plan to bring about improvement, especially to support new, inexperienced and unqualified staff to embed the curriculum. For example, not all staff have the confidence to implement the curriculum to fully engage and extend children in their learning. They do not consistently provide 'points of reference' to help children in their creative designs to know what the stars and moon look like or a 'mandala' to reinforce their learning. All children have meaningful experiences to develop mathematical concepts, such as speed and length as they race cars. Leadership and governance Expected standard Leaders and managers are effective role models, delivering high standards of education. Leaders have recognised the changes to the setting and have developed a targeted programme based on peer observations, supervision meetings and daily walk arounds. They understand what needs to improve to deliver consistently high-quality care, learning and development and intend to deliver and embed this training in the near future. There are some weaknesses in the delivery of the curriculum, including consistently positive interactions to further support communication and language for the youngest children. Staff workload and wellbeing are a key focus. Staff feel valued and well supported, especially in their wellbeing. Staff are encouraged to gain early years qualifications and to access relevant training to develop their skills further. Leaders develop effective partnerships with parents and other professionals to ensure that children's needs are routinely met. There is precise support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those with barriers to learning, and children remain at the heart of all decision-making. Compulsory Childcare Register requirements This setting has 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 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 Children benefit greatly from an inviting nursery where they build positive relationships with familiar staff. Children feel safe and enter the setting happily, ready to learn and with developing independence. Those children that are a little unsettled receive comfort and reassurance promptly and settle with well-chosen activities that support their interests. All the children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and barriers to learning, thoroughly enjoy their time exploring the outdoor areas. Older children enjoy developing their forestry skills. They concentrate really well as they thread cereal to Inspector: Rachael Williams make bird feeders. Children confidently talk about the birds that they have heard and the nest they have seen in the tree. They show care and concern for living things. For example, they handle a woodlouse carefully, and after showing it to their friends, they return it to where they have found it. Children show awe and wonder at the world around them. Children develop their curiosity. For example, rising 3-year-olds explore the magnetic shapes. They learn how these fit together and how they can see through them while hearing new words, such as 'translucent'. Older children develop their imaginations well, for example as they explore the sand and water. They make discoveries about how the water flows and talk about their own experiences, such as visits to the beach. Children learn about different cultures. For instance, older children keenly listen to a story about Ramadan. They enthusiastically ask about the different foods and are keen to sample them. Children explore what they know and make connections as they talk about other occasions where there may be special food. Children thoroughly enjoy their role play and explore familiar themes. For example, they follow instructions well to make pancakes. They learn new terms, such as 'cracking the egg' and 'whisking the batter'. Children collaborate and take on different roles. Those children who are less confident observe, and when they are ready, they join in without any fuss from their friends. Next steps Leaders should provide support to staff to enable consistency in the implementation of the curriculum to ensure positive outcomes for all children. Leaders should strengthen the interactions between staff and the youngest children to further encourage communication and language skills. About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, the special educational needs coordinator, designated safeguarding lead, parents 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. About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 136090 Address: Aviva Centre, Brierly Furlong Stoke Gifford Bristol BS34 8SW Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 23/10/1996 Registered person: Acorns Nurseries Limited Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00 Local authority: South Gloucestershire Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 24 February 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 1 to 4 Total number of places 33 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. 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