URN EY552478 · Inspected 2026-07-29 · Published 2026-09-14 · Inspector: Susan Hyatt
Phoenix Park Nursery Unique reference number (URN): EY552478 Address: 4-6 Millennium Way West, NOTTINGHAM, NG8 6AS Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 27/12/2017 Registers: EYR, CCR Registered person: Phoenix Park Nursery Ltd Inspection report: 29 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 Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard Staff are highly responsive to children's needs and prioritise children building secure attachments with their key person. For example, staff caring for babies work closely with parents to develop care routines that are aligned to what is experienced at home. As a result, even the youngest children quickly develop positive relationships with staff. Leaders embed support for children's emotional wellbeing. When children start to become overwhelmed, staff gently speak with them about how they feel. This helps to validate children's emotions. Staff have created calming spaces for children, including those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. These spaces thoughtfully contain resources that children use to help them self-regulate. Children seeking quiet time freely use these spaces, returning to their play when they are ready. Leaders consistently support children's health and wellbeing. Children receive nutritious meals, and robust systems are in place to ensure their dietary needs are met. Staff create a calm, comfortable environment for children who need to rest. They regularly check that children remain safe while they sleep. All children have daily access to outdoor play. Staff embed hygiene practices within the daily routine. Children know to wash their hands after messy play and before meals, and they freely access tissues to wipe their runny noses. This helps children practise simple self-care tasks. Inclusion Strong standard Staff swiftly and accurately assess children's development and achievements to determine appropriate next steps, which they embed within children's play. Leaders work closely with parents and external agencies to ensure that any changing needs and identified concerns about children's development are very well supported. This collaborative approach ensures that children receive the targeted support and carefully tailored learning opportunities that they need to help them make the progress they are capable of. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are known to children's social care and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing are very well supported. Leaders, staff and parents work closely together to develop effective strategies, ensuring that these children get the very best experience while at the setting. For example, leaders monitor how children with additional needs regulate themselves when they feel overwhelmed. As a result, leaders adapt the resources available, enabling children's unique needs to be met, and a significant improvement has been seen in children's development. Leaders use funding effectively to support children. For example, targeted funding is used to purchase appropriate resources to support one-to-one interventions and to support transitions within the nursery and to school. Staff monitor and review the impact this has on children's learning to ensure that it helps to improve outcomes for them. Expected standard Leadership and governance Strong standard Leaders work to ensure the setting provides high-quality care for all children. They continually reflect on how to improve the provision and ensure all children are progressing well from their individual starting points. For example, leaders have monitored and reviewed how pre-school boys engage with mark-making activities. As a result, activities have been adapted to support boys to engage fully to further support their readiness for school. Leaders fully consider staff's wellbeing and workload. They ensure that support and professional learning is of high quality and available when needed. Staff enjoy working at the setting and state that managers are approachable and fully support their training and development needs. Leaders undertake regular observations of staff practice and provide mentoring and support. While not yet fully embedded, leaders are acutely aware of areas that they want to work with staff on for continuous improvement of the provision. They work collaboratively with staff to implement consistent strategies, helping children to understand behavioural expectations and to develop even higher quality staff interactions with children. Leaders work closely with external professionals so children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are known to social care and those who face barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing, receive swift, appropriate and targeted support. This ensures all children make progress from their individual starting points. Achievement Expected standard Children's communication and language skills are well supported. They confidently involve themselves in back-and-forth conversations with staff. Children are given time to think and provide their individual responses. Toddlers fully engage in water play and eagerly repeat words such as 'water' and 'splash' as they tip and pour water from containers. Children enjoy accessing books that staff have placed throughout the setting. Pre-school children cosy up to staff, giggling as they work together with their friends to find items in the pictures. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning have access to a variety of activities, both indoors and outdoors, to help them make progress from their starting points. There are occasions when some children are unable to participate with their chosen activity. This is due to some staff not responding swiftly to children's emerging interests or requests. At these times, some children are not learning as much as they could. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard Children develop positive relationships with staff and show confidence in their environment as they join in activities. Babies settle well, cosying up to staff to enjoy their bottle of milk, and toddlers hold up their arms to staff when they recognise it is nappy changing time. Leaders have a clear process in place to monitor attendance. They ensure that any lapse in attendance is checked to keep children safe. Staff work with parents to help them understand the importance of regular attendance and how it may affect their child's development. Overall, children are supported to develop positive behaviours across the nursery. Staff are positive role models, encouraging children to use their manners, take turns and share their toys. Children receive praise from staff when they follow instructions, show kindness towards others and attempt to do things for themselves. When minor disagreements occur, staff gently intervene, supporting children to play together with their friends. That said, these strategies are not yet fully embedded across the nursery. For example, some 3-year-olds demonstrate unwanted behaviours during group time, struggling to follow staff requests to sit and take part in a singing activity. As a result, this unwanted behaviour continues until more confident staff intervene. This does not consistently support children to understand expectations of their behaviour. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Leaders work with staff to identify the most important areas of learning for the children in their care. For example, the curriculum is sequenced and linked to each child's ability to build on their existing independence skills. This includes the use of cutlery, serving themselves food and drinking water and clearing away after themselves. Staff determine appropriate next steps in learning and embed these within children's play. This includes those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who experience barriers to their learning. Staff adapt their vocabulary to support early mathematics. Children are helped to identify colours, shapes and direction when taking part in creative activities. For example, toddlers are supported to use glue spreaders to spread glue up, down, left and right on the paper. This ensures that each child builds on what they already know and can do. Overall, daily routines are well organised and support children to learn. However, on occasion, children's learning is interrupted. For example, group story time is disrupted by staff taking individual children to wash their hands in readiness for lunchtime and by children who are not positively engaging in the activity. Consequently, this disrupts children and their ability to fully listen and engage in learning. 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 What it's like to be a child at this setting Children thoroughly enjoy their time at this welcoming nursery and busy themselves with the exciting activities that staff have provided for them. Leaders place an emphasis on all children gaining experiences with creative and sensory activities. Older babies are supported to safely explore the texture of paint on their feet and hands, toddlers enjoy splashing in water and using vegetables to print pictures with, and 3-year-olds concentrate as they suck up gloop using pipettes. Pre-school children show increasing control and dexterity as they are supported to position their fingers correctly to use spray bottles. They laugh with their friends as they squirt water onto toy dinosaurs to give them a drink and wash them. Leaders work closely with parents to ensure children attend regularly. Children are supported to develop their muscle strength. For example, babies have a safe space to develop their core muscles as they are motivated to crawl and take early steps to access activities, and toddlers use their leg muscles as they confidently navigate small steps and ramps. Pre-school children practise their balancing skills as they carefully walk across tyres, and others take turns with their friends to do forward rolls on the large carpet area. This supports children's developing physical skills. Leaders and staff consistently promote an inclusive environment for children in their care. Activities are very well considered to ensure differentiation, but also provide structure and familiarity for those children who may need it. Staff undertake regular observations and assessments to identify children's emerging needs and to establish appropriate next steps Inspector: Susan Hyatt About this setting Unique reference number (URN): EY552478 Address: 4-6 Millennium Way West NOTTINGHAM NG8 6AS Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 27/12/2017 Registered person: Phoenix Park Nursery Ltd for their learning. As a result, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make progress from their starting points. Next steps Leaders should develop story time even more to help children remain engaged without interruption. Leaders should continue to build on staff practice, specifically in relation to adapting resources, to enable all children to be even better at taking part in their chosen activity and following their interests. Leaders should continue to support staff with implementing even more consistent behaviour management strategies that build on children's understanding of expectations. About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners 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. Register(s): EYR, CCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:30 Local authority: Nottinghamshire County Council Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 29 July 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 5 Total number of places 125 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? 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