Railway Kindergarten

Railway Kindergarten
Unique reference number (URN): EY458243
Address: 110 Railway Road, Urmston, Manchester, M41 0YD
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 13/12/2012
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Langford, Margaret
Inspection report: 2 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.

Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those known
to children's social care and those that face any other barriers to learning, typically achieve
well. Children play cooperatively together. Babies smile as other babies sit alongside them
as they join in with songs that they know. Children independently explore the environment,
making choices about what they want to do and play with. Older children invite each other to
join them as they take on roles and talk about their own experiences. They develop
communication and language skills, including speaking in sentences and engaging in
conversations. Children use these skills to share their knowledge. For example, older
children discuss the life cycle of a butterfly and recap on when they witnessed the butterflies
coming out of the cocoon. Children are confident in their abilities. They develop the
necessary skills and knowledge to be ready for their next stage in their learning.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders create a calm environment and establish respectful bonds with children. This helps
children to feel safe and secure. Staff model being kind as they play alongside children,
gently modelling feeding the baby dolls, hugging and rocking them gently. Younger children
copy these actions and 'shush' the baby dolls to sleep. Children know and follow the
expectations of staff. Staff and children show respect for each other. Even the youngest
children eagerly help staff to put the toys away at tidy-up time. Older children offer to help
willingly. If minor disagreements occur, staff respond in a nurturing way. For example, as
babies want to sit on the same see-saw, staff show them the other seat and then sing 'Row,
Row, Row Your Boat'. All babies then join in with the song, giggling together.
Staff design an interesting and engaging environment that encourages children to play,
explore and show a love of learning. Overall, children engage for long periods in the
experiences on offer. They become immersed in role play as they explore and smell flowers
in the 'flower shop'. Children ask each other politely if they can come in and then play
alongside one another well. Leaders have embedded clear attendance policies. This helps
children to build positive habits in preparation for school.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Staff are caring and attentive to children's needs. They place a high importance on
supporting children's emotional wellbeing. Leaders have embedded an effective key-person
system that helps all children to build close relationships with staff. Leaders have identified
that, at times, transition times are not as well organised as at other times of the day. This
means, on some occasions, older children are not always sure what will happen next.
Leaders are implementing plans to ensure consistency throughout the nursery.
Staff encourage all children to spend a lot of time outdoors, where they play and explore the
well-equipped garden and benefit from fresh air and exercise. Staff use books to support
children's understanding of foods that are healthy and unhealthy. Children recall this

knowledge as they talk about the story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. Children develop an
understanding of how to keep themselves healthy as they regularly stop to drink fresh
drinking water as they get out of breath or get hot. Leaders ensure all children have a
named dentist as they start. They use their links in the community to signpost them if they
do not have one to support children's oral health needs.
Children have many opportunities to develop their self-help skills. Even the youngest
children receive encouragement to feed themselves and have a go at wiping their own faces
afterwards. Older children serve their own meals and pour their own drinks as staff talk to
them about the health benefits of the food that day. Children develop confidence in their own
abilities. They problem-solve and say that tasks are 'easy peasy' as they complete them.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
The quality of teaching is typically secure throughout the setting. Staff interact well during
play to engage and extend children's learning. They confidently support children's
communication and language skills through the correct modelling of language and plentiful
spontaneous moments of singing and reading. For example, staff discuss with young
children their memories of visiting the farm. They extend this by providing books and animal
toys. Children eagerly turn the pages to see their favourite animal, naming each one and
making the animal noise. Staff introduce new language, such as 'calf', and children repeat
this then use it in their play.
Staff place a high importance on supporting children's physical skills. Children have many
opportunities to take part in physical movement games outside, such as running and using
bats and balls. Staff show children how to hold the bats correctly and praise them as they
bat the ball back to their friends. Staff provide many opportunities for children to develop
their small hand muscles in readiness for later writing. Children eagerly spray water from a
water spray onto pretend fires in the tray to 'put them out'.
The learning environments are well thought out to provide children with a wide range of
experiences across all areas of learning. Staff support children to develop an early
understanding of number and quantity as they play alongside them. Staff count items in
books, introduce language such as 'full' and 'empty', and encourage children to problem-
solve. Older children work out that in order for their boats to travel fast, they need lots of
water in the pipes. They cheer each other's boat along and count how many seconds it
takes to get to the bottom. During role-play, staff introduce the concept of money. Children
avidly discuss how much items are and count out the right amount of pennies.
Although staff accurately assess what children know and can do, they do not consistently
use this information when teaching in group activities. At times, these experiences do not
consistently build on what children already understand and can do. It is not always clear
what knowledge staff want children to gain from these experiences. This results in children
losing interest at times in these group activities.
Inclusion Expected standard
Staff have high expectations for what all children can achieve. They have embedded clear
assessment procedures, such as speech and language assessments, that help staff to

identify any gaps in children's learning swiftly. Leaders are committed to meeting the needs
of all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)
or those who face any other barriers to their learning. They have established positive links
with the local authority and other external agencies. Leaders work closely with parents and
carers. They seek advice from specialist agencies when required to help them to meet the
needs of all children who attend. Leaders have clear oversight of the use of additional
funding, and this ensures that this is used effectively to support children's progress.
Leaders ensure targeted plans are put into place for children when required. They make
adaptations and have agreed support strategies. Overall, this support helps children to feel
included and to make progress alongside their peers. However, leaders have not ensured
that all staff understand how to implement these strategies consistently. While staff try to
support every child consistently, at times they lack the skills to be able to adapt all activities
successfully. Parents who have children with SEND share how staff know each child
extremely well and treat them as individuals. They value the support that they receive as a
family. They have seen significant progress in their children's development since they have
started attending the setting.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders have embraced support from the local authority since their last inspection and
ensured that any weaknesses identified have been addressed. Leaders make informed
decisions about additional funding. This ensures that the funding is used to positively impact
children's individual needs. This helps all children, including those with special educational
needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning, to make progress.
Leaders prioritise staff wellbeing. Staff talk positively about their roles and the support the
leaders provide. Leaders have strengthened the training and support that they provide to
staff. They have improved the oversight of the setting. Leaders have a clear understanding
of the strengths and next steps for all staff. Staff receive targeted training to equip them to
fulfil their roles to a high standard. For example, leaders are currently supporting staff who
have recently taken on new roles, such as leading a room. They have started modelling and
coaching and have provided specific training that is impacting positively on staff morale and
the consistency throughout the setting.
Partnership working is a strength of this setting. Leaders are fully committed to working in
partnership with families and other agencies who can support children's education and care.
Parents and carers feel fully informed about their children's care needs and progress. They
state that their children love attending the nursery. These positive partnerships support
consistency for children's learning.

What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children arrive eagerly to this setting. Staff have built loving relationships with all children.
This helps children to feel safe and secure. Staff greet all children warmly as they enter the
setting. Children quickly become engaged in the fun experiences on offer. They develop
their imaginations as they frequently take on roles and express their own ideas in play. Older
children use opportunities in role play to show staff how fondly they think of them. They use
the money in the 'flower shop' to buy flowers and proudly take them to their key persons.
Younger children look at themselves and smile in the mirror as they manage to dress up as
a firefighter.
All children benefit from a fun and ambitious curriculum that staff typically implement well.
Children of all ages, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and
those with any barriers to learning, enjoy meaningful experiences across all areas of
learning. Lots of laughter and singing fills the air as staff regularly sing spontaneously to the
children. Children eagerly join in and pass instruments out to their friends as they sing and
dance together. Children thoroughly enjoy the time they spend with staff. Children play
cooperatively. They show a real love of nature. Children spend time hunting for bugs with
magnifying glasses. They sit and discuss the features of each bug. Children explore flowers
and encourage their friends to smell each one. These engaging experiences help children to
develop a love of learning.
Children become confident and show high levels of self-esteem. Staff are nurturing in their
interactions with children. This ensures a calm environment where children are confident to
express themselves. Staff offer lots of cuddles and reassurance to the children. They
encourage children to have a go. As children mix different coloured dough, staff talk about
the consistency and encourage children to think about why it might be too sticky. Children
count out scoops of flour to try and solve the problem. Children show curiosity and
enjoyment in their learning.
Next steps
Leaders should ensure that staff are consistent in implementing the agreed strategies for
addressing barriers that children face in their learning.
Leaders should ensure that teaching in group activities enables children to build on what
they already understand and develop the new knowledge that leaders intend.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, parents and carers, children and a representative
from the local authority during the inspection.

Inspector:
Rebecca Weston
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY458243
Address:
110 Railway Road
Urmston
Manchester
M41 0YD
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 13/12/2012
Registered person: Langford, Margaret
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00
Local authority: Trafford
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 2 July 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
1 to 4
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.

Total number of places
22
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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