Orchard Day Nursery

Orchard Day Nursery
Unique reference number (URN): EY225572
Address: 239 Henley Road, Caversham, Reading, Berkshire, RG4 6LJ
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 28/02/2002
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: Orchard Resources Limited
Inspection report: 10 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.

Expected standard
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders and staff have created a safe, calm and respectful environment with shared
expectations for children's positive behaviour. Staff quickly establish warm and genuine
bonds with children in their care. This helps children develop a sense of belonging and feel
valued. Staff offer gentle guidance and advice as children take appropriate risks, such as
when younger ones navigate going up and down the outdoor ramp in their wellington boots.
In this way, children begin to recognise that the rules and boundaries in place help to keep
them safe.
Generally, the positive messages from staff help children to understand what is expected of
them. Staff role model positive behaviours well and adapt their approach to the age and
developmental stages of children they care for. For instance, the secure relationships built
with younger children helps support their emotional security. Equally, staff support older
children to make positive choices and recognise their feelings, as well as those of others.
They encourage children to be kind and respectful towards each other and readily praise
acts of kindness shown, such as taking turns or sharing a popular toy.
Leaders help parents to recognise the benefits of regular attendance and punctuality.
Through established routines, children build resilience, learn acceptable behaviours and
develop their self-confidence.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Leaders ensure that children readily develop positive attachments with their key person.
Babies seek out their key person when they need reassurance and older children remember
their key person's instructions as they get changed in the bathrooms to protect their privacy.
Staff work in partnership with parents to follow routines from home, such as for sleeping and
feeding. In this way, children feel secure and safe.
Staff encourage children, including those who face barriers to their learning, to become
independent when looking after themselves as they transition through the rooms. For
instance, younger children develop good hand–eye coordination when they learn to feed
themselves and drink from open cups. Staff readily support older children to use the toilet
confidently, pour their own drinks and self-serve their meals. As children get older, staff help
children to recognise, express and manage their emotions appropriately.
Staff support children to lead healthy lifestyles, such as washing their hands before
mealtimes, wiping their noses and covering their mouths if they cough. Children also point
out the ingredients in the nutritious meals the chef makes for them and staff talk to children
about how certain foods benefit them. This helps children to understand how to take care of
their bodies.

Needs attention
Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders with responsibility to oversee the provision for children with special educational
needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have made strides in helping staff understand specific
children's gaps in their learning. They know individual children and their families well and
understand their needs and backgrounds. Those responsible for children with SEND
understand their role and responsibilities. For example, they help staff identify emerging
needs in a timely manner. In addition, they coordinate and monitor inclusive practice to help
these children access learning and help narrow gaps. For instance, for those children who
need to improve their concentration and focus, targeted interventions take place daily, as
well as personalised guidance during their play.
Staff keenly work with external professionals and families, completing relevant training to
shape children's focused support. The collaboration with specialists ensures that each child
with SEND has clearly identified next steps and interventions are reviewed regularly. Staff's
practise is generally effective at ensuring children who face barriers to their learning make
steady progress in preparation for the next stage in their education. Additional funding is
used effectively, for instance, to provide extra resources, enrichment opportunities and one-
to-one adult support.
Achievement Needs attention
Children do not make the best possible progress as staff's understanding of the curriculum
intention is variable across the curriculum areas. For example, younger children fascinated
by cause and effect when exploring are not supported to extend their ideas and vocabulary.
Nonetheless, there are moments where some competent talkers engage in meaningful
back-and-forth conversations with staff and each other. For instance, during role play
children share their own ideas from a holiday to France to talk about French words and
foods they know.
Children take on roles of responsibilities with enthusiasm. For instance, older children
readily take on responsibility to work out how many plates, cups and cutlery is needed for
lunchtimes. They take pride in using their mathematical language to ask staff for 'one more'
or 'one less' plate or cup.
All children, including those who face barriers to their learning, become increasingly
confident at managing their self-care. They demonstrate security as they quickly adapt to
familiar routines. Children's achievements are celebrated by staff, which helps children feel
immensely proud of their accomplishments.
Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
There are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching of the curriculum. This is evident when
some staff do not know when to use their interactions to extend children's learning as they

play. Staff in the older children's room do encourage more confident ones to share what they
already know and can do. However, they do not always ask questions to extend children's
thinking beyond their existing knowledge. Consequently, at times, staff are not able to
support children achieve to the best of their abilities. Leaders have created a curriculum that
focuses on building children's knowledge and skills over time. However, this has not yet
been shared with staff effectively enough. This has led to staff's variable understanding of
the curriculum. Key persons use their assessments and observations to help them to decide
what they need to teach next. However, during interactions in real time, some staff are not
confident in taking children to the next level.
The outdoor curriculum supports children's physical skills, natural curiosity and imaginations.
Staff plan and set up open-ended activities that children enjoy, such as exploring in the mud
kitchen, building obstacle courses and creating sand models. Key persons responsible for
those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities know that some of them
prefer to learn outdoors in the fresh air. Typically, these staff play alongside these children
with enthusiasm, helping to build their stamina and coordination, such as with obstacle
courses.
Leadership and governance Needs attention
Leaders demonstrate that they lack precision in ensuring appropriate action is taken to bring
about ongoing improvements in staff's understanding and implementation of the curriculum.
Nevertheless, they show that they have capacity to improve and have successfully
addressed some actions from the last inspection, such as embedding better room transition
procedures. However, this does not include effectively sharing leader's knowledge of a
recently created sequenced curriculum to staff or how to consistently deliver this over time to
raise the quality of teaching. As a result, children do not achieve to the best of their abilities.
The newly appointed leadership team share management responsibilities. They have
welcomed support from early years consultants, who have delivered training around specific
strategies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
However, leaders' monitoring of teaching and limited coaching and mentoring for individual
staff is not yet effective to bring about positive change. Despite this, children with SEND are
benefitting from leaders who are responsible for these children. In this area, leaders and
staff are developing positive relationships with parents and other professionals. This
provides consistent support and shared understanding, which helps these children make
steady progress.
All leaders possess a genuine regard for their staff team, who report high levels of morale,
wellbeing and manageable workloads.

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's learning and development are variable. In the main, their achievement is
supported by leaders and staff, but inconsistencies in teaching and leadership oversight
mean that not all children consistently benefit from high-quality provision. That said, children
with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from a newly appointed
leadership team, who are working to strengthen the curriculum, teaching and children's
achievements. However, their learning experiences are inconsistent and there is not
sufficient impact on other children at the setting to achieve their full potential. The quality of

interactions varies across the rooms. For example, during a group story session with older
children, the less confident ones are not fully encouraged to contribute to questions posed
by staff or children's responses are not fully extended. While children enjoy the open-ended
activities on offer, including younger children rolling wheeled toys down a ramp outdoors,
opportunities are not always taken up by staff to build on individual children's existing
knowledge and skills.
From the outset, children form warm and positive relationships with staff, who work closely
with families to get to know their children well. Staff respond to children's care needs with
reassurance and respect. For instance, they ask children permission to wipe their runny
noses. Transitions between rooms has improved since the last inspection, as children are
supported to understand the routines and staff's expectations. Children practice and master
their self-help and independence skills, such as putting on their coats and setting up tables
for lunchtime. They demonstrate a growing awareness of what is expected of them, such as
tidying away their toys after finishing with them. Outdoors, children have large spaces on
different levels to be physically active and explore freely at their own pace, promoting
children's physical wellbeing. Indoors, children show a keen sense of belonging as they
move around the rooms with confidence, choosing what they want to play with. Their
favourite activities include readily approaching members of staff to share books with them,
showing a genuine love for books.
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:
Action Completion Date
share and implement a curriculum that is well
sequenced and has clear intent to meet all children's
needs
10/04/2026
improve oversight of the quality of teaching and put
appropriate arrangements in place to ensure individual
staff receive personalised training opportunities,
coaching and mentoring
10/04/2026
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, special educational needs coordinator, 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

Inspector:
Sonia Panchal
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY225572
Address:
239 Henley Road
Caversham
Reading
Berkshire
RG4 6LJ
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 28/02/2002
Registered person: Orchard Resources Limited
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00
Local authority: Reading
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 10 February 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
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.

Total number of places
54
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