Happy Feet Nursery & Preschool

Happy Feet Nursery & Preschool
Unique reference number (URN): 2903065
Address: 120a Wimborne Road West, Wimborne, BH21 2DU
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 15/07/2026
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Happy Feet Nursery & Preschool (Wimborne) Ltd
Inspection report: 24 July 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
Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who
face barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing, make excellent progress across all areas of
learning. Children are prepared for their next stage of learning. Babies relish in the
exploration of sound as they crawl excitedly over purposefully placed materials. They smile
as staff show their enthusiasm and use words such as 'crunchy'. This helps to form their
early language skills. Older children are confident communicators. They engage in
conversations with their peers and staff. Children use a wide range of vocabulary such as
'fragile' and begin to understand words such as 'kneading' when making dough.
Babies beam with pride when walking steadily across climbing equipment, developing their
balance and stability. Older children demonstrate their scissor control when cutting fresh
mint from the garden to add to their dough. They practise their smaller skills as they
manipulate the dough, poking, rolling and stretching it. Children show a love of stories and
books. Babies listen well to stories, and younger children laugh as they put hats on as props
for their story time. Older children ask questions and recall the 'book of the week'
confidently. They begin to recognise what number is missing and what comes next, as they
develop excellent early maths skills. Younger children begin to recognise shapes, complete
puzzles and enjoy number rhymes as they excitedly wiggle their bodies, to staff's energetic
singing.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard
Leaders and staff create a harmonious environment. They embed high expectations for
children's behaviour in a well-sequenced and age-appropriate way. This supports those
children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to
their learning and/or wellbeing. Staff remind babies of gentle hands and feet as they become
excited and enjoy tumbling over each other, laughing. This sets expectations right from the
start. Staff encourage older children to share with their friends, using thorough explanations
to help children understand what is expected of them and why. This promotes shared
discussions, supporting children's thinking and problem-solving skills.
Staff support children's transitions superbly. They use bells and songs to encourage babies
to tidy, and they begin to help pick up the toys. This is mirrored for older children and those
who have recently transitioned to this room from babies, demonstrating confidence during
these times. These secure and consistent routines help children to know what is happening
next. For example, babies independently go to the soft rug for group times and younger
children beam with pride as they wash their hands independently. This creates seamless
transitions.
Children demonstrate positive attitudes in their approach to tasks. They work with other
children and listen intently when staff set them small jobs such as setting the table, counting
out the chairs and placing cups ready for lunch. Children thrive on the praise and
encouragement that they receive from staff. This contributes significantly to their positive
behaviour, confidence and self-esteem. Staff are excellent role models.

Leaders work effectively with families to ensure that children attend regularly and on time.
This helps parents and carers understand that their children benefit from their time at the
setting.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Leaders and staff prioritise children's wellbeing. Staff demonstrate a clear passion for
working with children and are extremely dedicated to their roles. This contributes to
children's high self-esteem, secure relationships and emotional wellbeing. Staff know
children and families well. Parents report how they feel 'connected' to children's learning
through the ongoing support, advice and communication about their development. These
effective and robust partnerships ensure staff understand children's care routines and
individual needs. For instance, staff adapt routines and work with parents to closely match
home routines. This supports children, including those with special educational needs and/or
disabilities, to feel safe, valued and cared for. Children build positive relationships with their
peers. They laugh, play and have fun together. Younger children show delight when they
see familiar staff, excitedly waving their arms.
Children develop excellent awareness of how to lead a healthy lifestyle. They enjoy
nutritious home-cooked meals and learn about healthy foods through growing projects.
Leaders recently organised a visit from the dentist to help children understand the
importance of looking after their teeth. Children learn to manage their own care needs from
a young age and staff talk to them about germs and how they can affect their bodies. They
enjoy daily fresh air and exercise in the spacious and well-planned outside area. Children
benefit from leaders' recent focus on strengthening the opportunities for larger physical
skills. Children begin to learn about personal safety. Staff guide younger children to hold on
when walking up the stairs and older children to not rock on their chairs. These skills help
children to develop healthy habits for their future.
Curriculum and teaching Strong standard
The curriculum is highly ambitious and carefully designed to meet the individual needs of all
children. Leaders and staff have clear understanding of what they want children to achieve
throughout their time at the setting and beyond. This helps them to gain fundamental lifelong
skills. These include building resilience, playing collaboratively and developing the ability to
persevere in their learning. Staff plan and deliver a broad curriculum that is tailored to
individual interests, next steps and learning styles of children.
The curriculum is well sequenced and helps children, including those with special
educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning and/or
wellbeing, to consistently build on what they know and can do. This means children make
sustained progress in their learning. Staff engage with children using high-quality
interactions that expertly weave learning into everyday routines and play. For example, staff
support children's early maths skills as older children count backwards, building their
confidence with numbers, and babies enjoy number rhymes that focus on 1 to 3. Staff
deliver high-quality teaching to support and challenge children's next steps and intentions for
learning. This is following the ambitious curriculum, which is consistent.

There is a strong focus on communication and language progression. Staff working with
babies encourage high levels of communication, such as through narration, sounds, sharing
books and responding attentively to their non-verbal gestures. Staff use open-ended
questioning and introduce new words such as 'fascinating'. Children thrive in their physical
development. Staff have excellent knowledge of how to help babies develop their core
strength for sitting, crawling and walking. They adapt the environment for older children such
as encouraging them to stand at the table, providing more strength as they push down and
press on the dough they are exploring. This helps to build their shoulder and arm strength.
Children enjoy friendships with their peers and being able to contribute their own ideas.
Staff's quality teaching and the time they invest in each child strongly supports children's
confidence, independence and social communication.
Inclusion Strong standard
Leaders and staff monitor children's progress rigorously. They are quick to respond and
support any emerging or changing needs of children. This has a positive impact on the
progress they make. Staff gather relevant information from parents and carers alongside
their own observations to form precise starting points for children. This means adaptations
are implemented swiftly to help close gaps in their learning. For example, enhancing the
physical environment for children helps them to make noticeable progress when building
their larger physical skills. Highly effective communication between leaders and staff ensure
that any barriers to children's learning are minimised. This includes using communication
tools to support those with a speech delay or building the confidence of quieter children.
This means children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face
barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing, are supported superbly.
Leaders and staff work seamlessly together to devise and implement ambitious, targeted
support plans that are consistently reviewed and refined. They work closely with other
settings children attend, creating an in-depth overview of children's learning. Leaders and
staff openly engage with parents, to enable secure partnerships for decision-making and
home learning. Parents express how they feel staff are a 'genuine partner in children's care'
and value the 'complete transparency'. This provides impactful support and continuity in
children's learning. Although currently there are no children accessing additional funding,
leaders have an excellent understanding of how this would be used to best support children
when needed.
Leadership and governance Strong standard
Leaders have a clear oversight of the setting. They use their excellent knowledge of high-
quality practice to reflect daily alongside staff in identifying strengths and areas for
improvement. Leaders make decisions using a shared team approach, resulting in highly
impactful changes that mean children excel in their learning and development. For example,
a room restructure to incorporate sensory play in the same room as babies has supported
less confident and quieter babies to explore different textures and materials. Alongside this,
splitting group times for older and younger children has positively impacted on older
children's focus and younger children's confidence to speak in smaller groups. Through
leaders' dedication to improvement, staff welcome targeted training opportunities to support
new ideas and enhance children's learning. For example, through leaders and staff's

reflections on children's play, staff have recently gained new knowledge about block play.
This has impacted greatly on helping children to use their imaginations to build more
creative structures.
Staff report high levels of wellbeing and comment on how they feel extremely valued.
Leaders are present, dedicated and responsive, which creates a foundation for a secure and
happy working environment. Leaders and staff have formed trusting relationships with
parents and carers. They report that all staff are 'invested in children's wellbeing' and notice
how children have excelled in their development. Leaders ensure that they communicate
with other settings children attend and work closely with external professionals. This helps to
form robust partnership working to support continuity in children's learning and development.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children thrive in this setting. They demonstrate their eagerness to explore as soon as they
arrive. Babies eagerly climb the stairs with support from the warm and caring staff. This
demonstrates their physical abilities from the start. Older babies know to take their shoes off
and put them in the basket. This develops their emerging independence. Older children
relish in the time spent with staff. For example, they enjoy cuddles and brushing staff's hair
as they play hairdressers. Children develop strong and secure bonds with staff. This helps
children to feel extremely safe, secure and comfortable in the nurturing environment.
Children form caring and warm relationships with their peers. For instance, older babies play
together and older children tell their friends, 'I love you'. Throughout the setting, staff refer to
children as 'friends'. This creates a positive, caring and respectful environment where
children flourish. Children's attendance and punctuality is consistent, leaders are quick to
acknowledge any unknown absence and lateness, as they work effectively with parents and
families. This builds positive habits for the future.
Children are curious, confident and inquisitive learners. They access an inclusive,
meticulously planned and sequenced curriculum. Children, including those with special
educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning and/or
wellbeing, make swift progress from their starting points. The learning environment is ready
for children to explore with a range of stimulating activities that have been so carefully
planned. Children pour and empty various objects, developing their smaller physical skills.
Staff explain this is in preparation for children to begin to feed themselves independently.
Babies are in an environment full of language as staff narrate their play excellently. Older
children develop their use of vocabulary. They repeat familiar phrases and begin to retell
stories of core books. Children use words such as 'stretching' when modelling dough. They
develop keen attitudes towards their learning. Leaders and staff are swift in identifying any

Inspector:
Chelsea Woollard
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2903065
Address:
120a Wimborne Road West
Wimborne
BH21 2DU
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 15/07/2026
Registered person: Happy Feet Nursery & Preschool (Wimborne) Ltd
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00
barriers to learning, ensuring that all children are able to reach their full potential and are
well prepared to start school.
Next steps
Leaders should sustain self-evaluation processes to ensure continued improvement and
high standards. This should focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes
of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who may face
barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, the designated safeguarding lead, the special educational
needs coordinator, children and parents 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.

Local authority: Dorset
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 24 July 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
57
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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