Snapdragons Nursery Grosvenor

Snapdragons Nursery Grosvenor
Unique reference number (URN): 133076
Address: 4 Grosvenor Place, BATH, BA1 6AX
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 14/07/1999
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Snapdragons Nurseries Limited
Inspection report: 3 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.

Strong standard
Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Leaders and staff place a high priority on children's welfare and wellbeing, including those
with additional needs. They develop warm, nurturing relationships with children and families
from the moment they start at the nursery. Staff create a calm and welcoming environment
where children feel safe, secure and valued. They promote positive behaviour effectively
and support children to recognise and manage their feelings, develop friendships and show
consideration for others. As a result, children demonstrate positive emotional wellbeing and
confidently seek reassurance and support from familiar adults when needed.
Leaders and staff help children learn about respect, personal boundaries and consent
through everyday interactions. For example, they encourage children to ask permission
before joining a friend's play, sharing resources or offering physical affection, such as
holding hands. Staff are excellent role models, they use respectful language and reinforce
that everyone can make choices about their own bodies and belongings. Through these
consistent approaches, children learn to keep themselves safe and respect the feelings and
preferences of others.
Leaders and staff implement effective systems to promote children's health, safety and
wellbeing. They follow robust safeguarding procedures and adhere to current safe sleep and
healthy eating guidance. For example, all children receive healthy meals that are prepared
on site, which are tailored to their specific allergens and individual needs. Staff support
children's independence and autonomy through daily routines. For example, they ask babies
for permission before wiping their faces and encourage them to have a go themselves
where appropriate. Staff consistently explain what they are doing and respond sensitively to
children's cues. They support older children to develop their independence, including
confidently washing their hands and accessing the toilet area independently. Staff also work
closely with parents and other professionals to ensure that children's individual needs are
understood and met. As a result, children are happy, settled and emotionally prepared to
engage in their learning and play.
Inclusion Strong standard
Leaders and staff place a high and sustained emphasis on early identification and
overcoming barriers to learning for all children, including those with special educational
needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They have ambitious expectations and use their secure
knowledge of child development to identify emerging needs promptly and accurately.
Leaders and staff act quickly to close the gaps. They liaise with parents, create targeted
support plans and implement strategies, such as visual aids and small group activities, to
best meet the needs of children. This helps to ensure that children receive consistent well-
targeted support that enables them to access the full curriculum.
Leaders support and empower staff to continually strengthen practice through effective
coaching, professional development and collaboration with parents and external
professionals. Staff access specific training linked to the needs of their key children. This
enhances staff expertise and ensures that support is precise, responsive and impactful.

Leaders who are responsible for supporting children with SEND provide clear direction and
oversight, enabling staff to identify needs accurately and implement effective interventions.
Consequently, children receive timely support, overcome barriers to learning and achieve
the best possible outcomes, helping to ensure they are ready for their next stage of learning.
Leaders and staff implement a carefully planned and highly responsive small-steps
approach that builds children's knowledge and confidence over time. Learning experiences
are adapted with purpose to meet children's individual needs, while maintaining ambitious
expectations for achievement. Alongside this, leaders and staff place a strong emphasis on
children's emotional wellbeing, ensuring they feel safe, valued and secure. For example,
during 'sunshine-circle' activities, staff focus on children learning how to initiate interactions
and respect one another's wishes. As a result, children learn how to manage small group
interactions and play with peers.
Leadership and governance Strong standard
Leaders have a clear vision for providing high-quality care and education that benefits all
children. They are ambitious for children and are committed to creating an inclusive
environment where every child can thrive. Leaders have established a strong culture of
continuous improvement and regularly reflect on practice to identify priorities for
development.
Leaders place a high focus on staff wellbeing and recognise the important role this plays in
achieving positive outcomes for children. They provide extensive support for staff, including
adapting working hours where possible to promote a healthy work-life balance. Leaders
have implemented employee recognition and reward systems that celebrate staff
achievements and contributions. They also provide staff with tailored professional
development opportunities, which they discuss at regular supervision meetings, that support
both individual career aspirations and the needs of children. For example, staff have
completed forest-school training to enhance children's outdoor learning experiences and
specialised training to strengthen their knowledge of supporting children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, staff feel valued, motivated and well
equipped to support children's learning and development.
Parents speak highly of the nursery and describe it as a 'magical' place where children are
clearly at the centre of everything that staff do. Leaders and staff communicate effectively
with families via the online application and daily conversations, and they share information
about children's experiences and progress. Parents are well informed, valued and fully
involved in their children's care and learning.
Leaders have established highly effective systems to monitor the quality of the provision.
They gather the views of children, parents and staff and use this information to drive
improvements. Robust recruitment, induction and safeguarding procedures help to ensure
that children are cared for by suitable adults. As a result, the setting is well led and
managed, and children benefit from a safe, nurturing and ambitious environment where they
make good progress in their learning and development.

Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Children develop age-appropriate knowledge and skills across all areas of learning. They
demonstrate increasing confidence in expressing their ideas, making choices and interacting
with others. Children show high levels of independence and confidence in their learning.
They demonstrate responsibility when undertaking tasks. For example, children carefully
transport buckets of water to the painting area, managing resources safely and showing
good coordination and awareness of others. These opportunities help children to develop
resilience, equipping them with the skills needed for future success. Children are generally
well prepared for the next stage of learning. They gain the essential knowledge, skills,
confidence and independence needed and transition smoothly to their next stage of
learning.
Children make progress from their individual starting points and achieve well across all
areas of learning. Children's strengths and next steps are understood and reflected in
learning opportunities that are inclusive and tailored to meet their individual needs. Children,
including those with additional needs, are supported to participate fully, develop their skills,
and achieve positive outcomes.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders and staff place a clear emphasis on establishing routines and promoting positive
behaviour for all children, including those with additional needs. They typically create a
calm, nurturing and inclusive environment where children feel safe and secure. This helps
children to understand expectations and develop a sense of belonging. A well established
key-person system, which begins before families start at the nursery, supports secure
relationships with children and their families. This continues as children transition through
the nursery. As a result, children settle well and develop confidence in their surroundings.
Routines are clear and well structured. For example, the youngest children confidently climb
flights of stairs to access the garden with minimal support from staff, demonstrating growing
independence and physical confidence.
Leaders typically promote positive attitudes to learning through activities that reflect
children's interests and encourage curiosity. Children have positive attitudes to learning,
concentrate well and approach new experiences with confidence. For example, staff build
on children's interests of sea animals by encouraging them to explore and discuss these
creatures while using play dough, helping them to remain engaged and motivated in their
learning. However, staff do not always adapt activities effectively to sustain children's
interest and engagement. Consequently, some children become bored and are not
supported to engage in learning.
Inclusive approaches ensure that individual needs are understood and supported. For
example, some children benefit from slow, concise instructions and gentle reminders to help
them follow routines and meet expectations. Leaders work closely with families to ensure
they access their funding entitlement and attend regularly. They adapt this to meet individual
needs where needed. All families are valued and well supported.

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders and staff design and deliver an inclusive curriculum that is broad, balanced and
carefully sequenced. It promotes key areas, such as communication and language, personal
development and physical skills. Leaders ensure that learning opportunities reflect children's
developmental level and what they want them to learn next. For example, babies develop
their large physical skills, ready for walking, when they pull themselves to stand and climb
up steps to a small slope. Older children develop their listening and attention skills when
they follow instructions at tidy-up time. Staff work collaboratively and regularly discuss
children's development, using this shared knowledge to plan opportunities to best meet
individual needs.
Staff generally implement the curriculum effectively. They interact positively with children,
model language clearly and support learning opportunities. Staff plan purposeful
experiences and adapt practice in the moment to respond to children's interests and stages
of development. For example, staff introduce mathematical language from a young age
when they read books to babies and count the pictures they see. Older children play with
dinosaurs, supporting staff use descriptive language and ask children if they can locate the
dinosaur with the long neck, and children proudly hold up the dinosaur and say 'Diplodocus'.
However, children who require further opportunities to extend their learning do not always
receive this consistently.
Staff successfully enrich children's learning by exposing them to a wide range of
opportunities within the local community. For example, they arrange regular visits to parks,
libraries, farms and wide-open green spaces. Children build their understanding of the wider
world and develop confidence in new environments. Leaders carefully plan additional
experiences, including visits from gymnastics coaches and zoo laboratories, so that all
children benefit from quality enrichment opportunities. As a result, children gain valuable
experiences that extend beyond their everyday lives and support their personal
development.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children arrive at this warm and welcoming nursery, eager to learn and engage in the wide
range of opportunities available to them. They develop secure relationships with caring staff
who know them exceptionally well and understand their individual personalities, interests
and needs. Children feel safe, valued and included, and staff listen and respond with
kindness and celebrate their achievements.

Children, including those with additional needs, access a broad range of experiences that
help them learn about the world around them. They celebrate a variety of festivals, traditions
and cultural events, which are specific to the children and families that attend the nursery,
which teaches children about the similarities and differences between people and
communities. Children also benefit from regular forest-school experiences where they
explore nature, take risks and develop their confidence and curiosity outdoors. For example,
children plant vegetable seeds, nurture them to grow and proudly use them for nursery
snacks. Babies confidently develop their physical skills as they climb on low-level climbing
frames and explore the garden area with independence. All children enjoy investigating
resources, sharing ideas and building their knowledge through play.
Children form positive relationships and engage confidently with others. Babies enjoy
participating in group song times, where they excitedly join in with actions, movements and
familiar rhymes. Older children engage in shared story sessions and confidently contribute
their ideas. They recall previous learning and share their knowledge with friends when they
discuss different types of transport, like cars and aeroplanes, and talk about which ones
they have previously travelled on. These experiences help children develop their
communication skills, confidence and sense of belonging within the nursery community.
Children behave well, show positive attitudes to learning and demonstrate increasing levels
of independence. Staff support children's emotional wellbeing, particularly during periods of
change. For example, leaders create personalised countdown calendars that help children
prepare for their move on to school, reducing anxiety and building excitement. As a result,
children attend regularly and thrive in a safe and supportive environment. They enjoy
learning and develop the confidence, resilience and skills they need for future success.
Next steps
Leaders should ensure that staff consistently build on children's learning, providing
meaningful opportunities that help them make the progress they are capable of.
Leaders should ensure that staff adapt activities effectively to maintain children's interest
and engagement, supporting all children to participate in learning.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with children, the leaders, the designated safeguarding lead, the
special educational needs coordinator, staff 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.

Inspector:
Sarah-Louise Clements
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 133076
Address:
4 Grosvenor Place
BATH
BA1 6AX
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 14/07/1999
Registered person: Snapdragons Nurseries Limited
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:30
Local authority: Bath and North East Somerset Council
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 3 September 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 3
Total number of places
70

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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