Angelina's Day Care Ltd

Angelina's Day Care Ltd
Unique reference number (URN): 2780624
Address: Asset House, 4 East Street, Colchester, CO1 2TX
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 20/03/2024
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Angelina's Day Care Ltd
Inspection report: 2 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.

Strong standard
Expected standard
Inclusion Strong standard
All children demonstrate a strong sense of belonging at this warm and inclusive setting.
Leaders recognise the barriers that children may face in their learning and development and
take consistent, effective steps to reduce them. Staff training is carefully matched to the
needs of the children and the setting's priorities, which strengthens staff knowledge and
helps them to support children well. Leaders and staff identify children's needs swiftly,
including disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities
and those known or previously known to children's social care. Leaders use additional
funding purposefully and with precision to provide targeted support that meets children's
individual needs. As a result, children who receive this funding, and those who may face
other barriers, make sustained progress from their starting points.
Leaders and staff regularly and rigorously review children's progress. They adapt support
systematically as children's needs grow and change, ensuring that help remains timely and
effective. Children who are learning English as an additional language benefit from well-
chosen strategies, such as visual prompts and clear routines, which help them to
understand what is happening now and what will happen next.
Leaders build positive relationships with families and take a flexible, responsive approach to
working with parents. This helps families to feel supported and contributes to the positive
experiences that children have while attending the setting.
Achievement Expected standard
Children typically make secure progress from their starting points across all areas of
learning. Overall, they develop their communication and language skills well because staff
identify their needs early and use well-matched strategies, including for children who are
learning English as an additional language. Children build early mathematical understanding
through meaningful opportunities, such as filling and emptying sand into containers and
exploring how quantities change as they pour. They develop increasing independence, for
example, when serving their own meals and learning to cut fruit safely.
As children move through the rooms, staff consider friendship groups and each child's
developmental stage. This helps children to sustain positive relationships and supports their
confidence as they access the next steps in the curriculum. Children who occasionally miss
planned sessions receive flexible support, ensuring that they continue to access key
learning and make expected progress. Overall, children, including those who are
disadvantaged or with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are suitably prepared
for the next stage in their learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders have established a positive and welcoming environment in which expectations for
behaviour and routines are clear and understood by staff, parents and children. They take a
flexible and responsive approach to working with families, helping them to make
arrangements that support regular attendance and promote consistent routines for children.
This enables children to settle well, participate fully in daily experiences and join in with
learning.
Staff model kindness and respect in their interactions with children, helping children to learn
how to treat others. They encourage children to play cooperatively, share resources and
resolve minor disagreements with support. Staff help children to learn how to manage their
feelings by providing quiet, comfortable spaces where they can pause, reflect and settle with
their key person when they need reassurance.
When children become upset, staff respond promptly with calm, sensitive approaches, such
as offering comfort or gently distracting them to help them regain control of their feelings.
They adapt their support according to each child's age and stage of development. As a
result, children typically behave well for their age, build secure relationships and show
increasing confidence in managing their emotions and meeting the expectations of the
setting.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Children experience calm, familiar routines that help them to feel safe and settled. Staff
follow children's familiar sleeping patterns and provide close supervision so that rest times
reflect children's individual needs. Warm, responsive interactions help children to build
strong attachments with their key person. There are comfortable areas for children to rest or
have quiet time looking at books with their key person. Staff use picture cards to show what
happens now and next, helping all children, including those with special educational needs
and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, to understand
the structure of the day and feel confident during transitions.
Daily care practices promote children's health and growing independence. Children follow
handwashing routines and are supported with toileting as they develop their self-care skills.
They enjoy nutritious snacks and meals, and planned tasting activities, such as exploring a
variety of fruits. This broadens their experiences of healthy foods and encourages them to
talk about different textures.
Children have daily access to the outdoor garden. They climb steps, slide on the apparatus,
practise kicking balls and join in movement songs. These experiences generally help them
to build their coordination, balance and physical confidence.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders understand the quality of the curriculum and teaching. They monitor staff practice,
provide feedback and encourage staff to share ideas. This builds staff confidence and
enhances children's learning opportunities.

Leaders know children and their families well. They use this knowledge to identify learning
gaps and plan a curriculum that builds on what children already know and can do. Staff draw
on children's interests, such as imaginative play with dolls and dinosaurs, to plan activities
that capture and sustain their engagement.
Staff help children to develop their language skills. They talk with children as they play and
use stories and books to introduce new vocabulary. Children explore early mathematical
ideas through everyday experiences, such as counting in stories or using numbers in their
play. Most staff support children's thinking well, although some closed questions limit
children's deeper discussion.
The curriculum places a clear emphasis on children's physical, personal, social and
emotional development. Staff build warm, trusting relationships that help children to feel
secure. Staff provide activities such as using tweezers to move small objects from one pot to
another, giving purposeful practice in hand-to-eye coordination and fine motor control.
Outdoor movement play supports physical development. Indoors, younger children have
fewer opportunities that promote large physical movement.
Leaders and staff adapt teaching for children's individual needs, including for disadvantaged
children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children learning
English as an additional language. These adaptations help all children to take part in the
curriculum.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders have taken appropriate action since the last inspection to strengthen the education
and care that is provided to children. They understand the setting's strengths and areas for
development and use this insight to make decisions in children's best interests. Leaders
draw on staff expertise and use observations, professional discussions and reviews of
practice to guide improvement. Staff feel supported and speak positively about their
professional development. Recent training on supporting and managing children's behaviour
has been implemented well and has led to noticeable improvements in staff confidence and
children's day-to-day experiences.
Leaders monitor children's progress closely and identify those who need extra help.
Strategies for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are adapted in
response to their changing needs. Visual supports help children who speak English as an
additional language to understand routines and settle quickly. This responsive approach
contributes to the strong, inclusive culture that is evident across the setting.
Partnerships with parents are effective. Leaders actively seek parents' views through daily
conversations, written feedback and digital updates, helping families to feel informed and
valued. They are mindful of staff wellbeing and ensure that workloads remain manageable,
while recognising and appreciating the additional effort that staff have put into enhancing
children's care and learning.

What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children typically arrive happy and ready to start their day. When children need more
support, staff are on hand to provide comfort and gentle reassurance, enabling them to
settle quickly and feel secure. Warm greetings and familiar routines reinforce a sense of
safety and belonging from the moment they come through the door. Staff's calm, nurturing
interactions give children confidence to explore, knowing that a trusted adult is always close
by. Cosy, comfortable areas allow children to pause or look at books with their key person
when they need time away from busier activities.
Children enjoy playing and learning alongside friends. They share resources, take turns and
join in each other's play, giggling together and with staff as they explore activities, such as
sprinkling sand or preparing fruit. Staff model kindness throughout the day and support
children to manage small disagreements. This helps children to feel included and
strengthens their social confidence.
Children who need additional help, including those with special educational needs and/or
disabilities and those who are learning English as an additional language, receive tailored
support. Visual prompts, clear routines and patient language modelling help them to
understand what is happening now and what will happen next. Staff adapt their approach
sensitively, ensuring that all children can participate fully. This contributes to the strong
culture of inclusion across the setting.
Children enjoy a range of experiences that help them to grow and thrive. They taste new
foods, practise skills that build hand–eye coordination and develop their physical confidence
and some skills in the garden by climbing, sliding, kicking balls and joining in movement
songs. Children take pride in their increasing independence, serving their own meals and
managing simple self-care routines. Together, these experiences help children to feel
secure, valued and well prepared for their next stage of learning.
Next steps
Leaders should support staff to strengthen their interactions with children, particularly by
developing questioning techniques that promote critical thinking and deeper
understanding.
Leaders should review and strengthen the physical environment for younger children to
ensure it offers appropriate opportunities for them to develop their large physical
movement.

Inspector:
Shelly McDougall
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2780624
Address:
Asset House
4 East Street
Colchester
CO1 2TX
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 20/03/2024
Registered person: Angelina's Day Care Ltd
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00
Local authority: Essex
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 2 February 2026
Children numbers
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, the special educational needs coordinator and
children during the inspection and reviewed the written feedback provided by parents.
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.

Age range of children at the time of inspection
1 to 4
Total number of places
90
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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