Adam's Nursery Northwich

Adam's Nursery Northwich
Unique reference number (URN): 2861815
Address: 241-243 Manchester Road, Northwich, CW9 7NE
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 12/11/2025
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Adam's Nursery Group Ltd
Inspection report: 2 September 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
Children make positive progress from their starting points, including children that may face
barriers to their learning and wellbeing. Children gain key skills in relation to their personal,
social and emotional development. For instance, they develop their confidence and show
enthusiasm for trying new things. Older children persist for extended periods and discuss
their intentions when particular activities grasp their attention. Older children also learn to
take turns and develop early negotiation skills that are helpful for future collaborative play
and learning. Children generally enjoy books and show interest in stories that are read to
them. They also enjoy acting out familiar routines when playing in the role play area and
pretending to make lunch. This supports children to develop their social skills and develop
their imagination. Older children also enjoy helping out. This is evident when they like
helping to feed their nursery tortoise and when helping to set the table for lunchtime. This
boosts children's self-esteem and confidence, through giving them responsibilities
throughout the day. Furthermore, children receive highly effective support when they move
on to the next group or a new setting. Staff prioritise open and effective communication
during transition times to ensure children experience smooth and positive transition periods.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and teach them effectively
about the boundaries at the setting. Staff are enthusiastic and frequently make learning fun.
They provide children with lots of encouragement and praise and acknowledge their efforts
when trying new things. Children respond positively to the well-established routines. They
help to tidy up and try to put on their own coats and shoes independently. Staff constantly
guide children with developing their social skills and children receive effective support to
learn to wait and turn take. Staff also encourage older children to play collaboratively
together, role modelling respect, compassion and kindness. Furthermore, staff plan a wide
variety of trips in the local area which also supports children's wider social experiences and
development. Children across all age groups have frequent opportunities to learn about their
feelings and emotions. For instance, staff frequently name different emotions as they arise
and also use books, soft toys and other resources to support children to develop an
understanding of this. Staff work closely with parents and carers to promote regular
attendance and have effective arrangements for following up on any unexpected non-
attendance at nursery.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Children form lovely bonds with staff, who are caring and responsive to their needs. This
supports them to develop positive attitudes towards learning and exploration. Leaders and
staff prioritise the settling in of new children and families. They offer several sessions to get
to know children's interests, routines and developmental needs. Staff ensure settling-in
sessions are child-centred and unhurried to ensure children start to feel comfortable and
secure at the setting. Furthermore, leaders and staff offer additional stay-and-play sessions
during the term time holiday periods to maintain children's connection with the nursery.

Throughout the day, children have lots of opportunities to develop their independence. They
make choices about their play, pour their own drinks and help to care for classroom pets.
Children receive positive support to help them to understand healthy lifestyles and develop a
clear understanding of hygiene. This is evident when they enjoy a healthy menu of different
nutritious foods and engage in discussions and activities that teach them about healthy
eating. Furthermore, children learn about developing positive oral health habits. For
instance, they read stories about the importance of brushing their teeth and engage in tooth
brushing activities with various oral health resources. In addition, leaders and staff have
secure knowledge of appropriate safe sleeping arrangements and how to supervise children
to help to keep them safe during mealtimes.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Staff plan a variety of experiences to capture children's interests and help them close any
gaps in their learning. Younger children enjoy singing and playing with colourful scarves. As
they play, staff play 'peekaboo' and name lots of different colours. Younger children also
enjoy exploring their reflection in mirrors. As they explore, staff encourage children to
discuss different shapes and also discuss their eye and hair colour. Furthermore, children
enjoy playing outdoors and developing their physical skills when playing on a climbing frame
and a range of wheeled toys. This helps to develop their strength, balance and stamina as
they play. Overall, younger children receive positive support with their learning. Staff are
encouraging and responsive and make learning fun. Despite this, on occasions, staff
working with younger children do not consistently maximise the opportunities that arise to
extend their language skills and learning to the very highest level. Older children display
great levels of motivation and enjoyment as they explore. They spend extended periods
engaging in painting experiences and exploring different collage materials. They also enjoy
discussing different vehicles and talking about the different wheels on tractors, trains and
cars. Furthermore, they have fun engaging in role play in the kitchen and dressing up. This
helps to develop their creativity, imagination and storytelling skills.
Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders and staff are extremely passionate about offering inclusive early education. Leaders
have excellent knowledge of child development that helps them to identify if a child requires
some further support with their learning and development. Leaders and staff are highly
proactive when working with external professionals. They share their secure knowledge of
children and work collaboratively to try to meet children's additional needs. Leaders and staff
quickly identify any emerging needs or gaps in learning and put targeted support in place in
order to help them to continue to move forward in their learning. Leaders and staff generally
use additional funding well to invest in new resources and to make some adaptations to the
environment. They also use this to provide one-to-one support for busy periods of the day.
When children move on to new settings, leaders provide superb levels of support to parents
and carers to ensure children benefit from a supportive and collaborative transition. Leaders
and staff plan and deliver a range of experiences to help children learn about different
cultures and backgrounds. For instance, they celebrate festivals such as Diwali and Eid, and
explore powder paint and lanterns to help children learn about the significance of colour and

light during celebrations. This broadens their awareness of different communities, traditions
and groups.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders and staff are reflective and frequently evaluate key strengths of the nursery and
areas they want to continue to develop. Leaders and staff are ambitious and have a clear
vision about high-quality care and education. Leaders ensure recruitment and vetting
procedures are rigorous to help ensure staff are suitable for their roles. They also provide an
effective induction where staff focus on safeguarding, first aid skills and food hygiene
knowledge to help them to keep children safe. Although staff complete some helpful training
such as Understanding Autism and training in relation to using language and communication
assessment tools, staff do not routinely access a broad range of learning and development
training to help them develop their own knowledge and skills even further. This means, at
times, some staff working with younger children do not always extend their learning to the
very highest level.
Partnership working with parents and carers and external professionals is a great strength at
the setting. Leaders and staff form excellent working relationships to target what individual
children need and support their personal outcomes. Parents express high levels of
appreciation for the work leaders and staff do. They highlight that they are very caring and
supportive and work extremely hard to provide enjoyable, varied and engaging experiences
for the children at the setting. Several parents also comment on the progress children make
and how they are thriving at the nursery.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children receive high levels of care and encouragement at this small and nurturing nursery.
They build trusting bonds with staff, who are positive role models. Children enjoy a varied
curriculum that prioritises their emotional wellbeing, independence and helps them to
develop a love of learning. Younger children enjoy washing different vehicles during a car
wash activity. Staff actively play with them and help them to hear new words such as 'sticky'
and 'bubbles'. Young children also receive effective support when they practise throwing and
rolling different balls into a box. As they play, they discuss how some balls are smooth and
bumpy. Older children have fun learning about jungle animals and discuss the different sized
animals and their unique characteristics. When exploring the features of an elephant, they
learn about the trunk and the tusks. This supports them to hear new vocabulary and helps
them to develop their knowledge of the wider world. They also enjoy exploring different

Inspector:
Amy Wilkinson
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2861815
Address:
241-243 Manchester Road
letters and sounds and experimenting with a range of patterns and marks in play dough.
This extends their concentration and supports their early literacy skills.
Children of all ages benefit from a wide variety of experiences outside of the nursery. For
instance, they enjoy visiting local parks, going to the shops, visiting the local library and a
care home. This supports children to learn new knowledge and skills and gain greater
awareness of diversity and others with lives different to their own. Throughout the nursery,
children behave very well. They listen and turn take and also help to tidy up. Children
respond very well to the clear messages and gentle reminders about expected behaviour
and kindness. Children's development and progress is carefully monitored by staff. When
new children join, staff complete starting points assessments and use this information to
help them to plan different activities based on each child's interests and needs. Children
evidently flourish and make progress during their time at the setting.
Next steps
Leaders should support staff who are working with younger children to build on their
interactions and teaching skills to help extend children's learning to an even higher level.
Leaders should broaden staff's opportunities to engage in ongoing professional
development to further enhance outcomes for children.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with children, leaders, staff and parents and carers 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.

Northwich
CW9 7NE
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 12/11/2025
Registered person: Adam's Nursery Group Ltd
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00
Local authority: Cheshire West and Chester
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 2 September 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 2
Total number of places
28
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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