Sunbeams Atherton

Sunbeams Atherton
Unique reference number (URN): EY456178
Address: Manor House, 23 Bolton Old Road, Atherton, MANCHESTER, M46 9DF
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 04/01/2013
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: Sunbeams Atherton Ltd
Inspection report: 14 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
Achievement Strong standard
All children make excellent progress from their starting points, including those with special
educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning. They
benefit from a range of carefully planned activities that build on their interests and next
steps, which enables them to progress in their learning. Children settle quickly on arrival and
immediately engage in learning opportunities. They are curious in their learning and engage
in learning that is tailored to their needs.
Children are consistently encouraged to be independent. Children put on dressing-up
clothes in the role-play area. They independently take off their shoes and put them on the
shelf, showing that this is embedded practice. They select outfits and staff offer some help,
but encourage children to try it for themselves, celebrating with them when they achieve it.
Children learn about feelings and emotions and how to manage these effectively. They
quickly learn the routines and boundaries of the setting, which helps them to know what is
expected of them and helps with regulating their behaviour.
Children are well prepared for the transition between rooms and on to school. Across all
areas, they develop secure knowledge and skills, ensuring that they are ready for what they
need to learn next.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard
Leaders and staff implement clear and consistent routines which help children to know what
is expected of them. For example, children recognise cues from staff which show them when
it is time to tidy up. Staff expertly interact with the children to explain what is happening and
how to behave. They kindly explain behaviour expectations, so that children are aware of
the next steps. Staff deal with behaviour well and explain that it is okay to feel angry or
upset but set clear boundaries for children. Relationships are positive between children.
They are respectful and curious about each other. They show understanding when their
friends feel sad or angry and try to help them to feel better. Transitions are well managed,
meaning that children are ready for the next part of the day.
Parents and carers praise the support and feedback they receive through daily feedback
and the online system. They feel included in their children's development and know how to
extend learning at home. They are confident to talk about what their children are learning
and the next steps in their learning. Parents use professional terms when describing their
children's learning. For example, they talk about their children throwing and rolling toys, as
demonstrating a 'trajectory' behaviour. This shows that parents are fully informed about their
child's stage of development and where it fits into their future learning. Leaders work closely
with parents to ensure that children attend regularly and arrive promptly for their sessions.
They offer flexibility to ensure that children get the most from their learning and sessions suit
the needs of children and families.

Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Leaders create a nurturing environment for all children where they are encouraged to
develop their independence and skills. The children are settled and confident with their key
person. They know who to go to for comfort and reassurance. This means they build
resilience and confidence. Interactions are effective and consistently support children's
learning and development. Leaders and staff place a high emphasis on building children's
personal, social and emotional development. The key person approach is well-embedded
and helps children to form secure relationships. As such, children thrive in their emotional
wellbeing and benefit from trusting relationships with their key person. Leaders and staff
develop warm, positive relationships with the children. They work in partnership with parents
and carers to ensure that babies' routines are established and mirror those from home. This
promotes their health and wellbeing.
Staff consistently promote healthy eating and hygiene routines. Children independently
access water and pour themselves a drink at mealtimes and snack times. During role-play,
they confidently dress and undress themselves, and help their friends with coats and shoes.
This helps them to become increasingly independent and develop the confidence to manage
their own needs. They learn about healthy choices through the variety of foods they are
offered, and consistently talk about foods that are good for them. Staff gather important
information about allergens and intolerances and use place mats and serving bowls that are
colour coordinated using a 'traffic light system'. This ensures that staff can quickly identify
children's needs and maintain a safe, inclusive snack routine.
Safe-sleeping arrangements are fully embedded in practice. Leaders have appointed a safe-
sleep champion who offers training and support to other staff members. This ensures that
practice is fully implemented and embedded across the setting. This helps to ensure a
consistent approach, keeping children safe while they sleep.
Curriculum and teaching Strong standard
Leaders and staff implement an overarching curriculum which is ambitious with inclusivity at
its heart. This is skilfully designed to give children the knowledge and skills they need to
move on to the next stage of their learning. Staff plan for all children as individuals,
particularly those who face barriers to their learning. Through the curriculum, leaders build
knowledge of local community through strong connections. For example, local police visit
the setting to talk about their role in helping the community. Children also benefit from other
guest 'storytellers', such as a local guide-dog charity. This helps children to learn about
features of their local area and gives them a sense of belonging. Children learn about
culture and diversity and the world around them. Staff demonstrate a sound knowledge of
child development. Planning accurately reflects children's next steps, with each child having
focused planning to help them to achieve their goals. Staff identify where there are gaps in
children's development and swiftly amend their teaching to correct misunderstanding or offer
a different approach.
Staff narrate children's play, skilfully introducing new vocabulary and modelling
conversation. Staff share stories with enthusiasm, helping to capture children's interest and
spark curiosity. Children listen attentively and join in with familiar phrases, showing that they
are developing a clear love of books. There is a high emphasis on developing children's

personal, social and emotional development, with feelings and emotions a focus of everyday
activities. For example, staff lead a daily group time activity where children use stories,
puppets and props to talk about their feelings. They use this time to talk about how to help
their friends when they are feeling sad. Staff seamlessly implement mathematical language
into children's play, encouraging them to count and talk about size, shape and weight while
exploring dough.
Inclusion Strong standard
Leaders and staff create an inclusive setting where all children are valued and supported,
regardless of any barriers to their learning. Inclusion is a priority for all staff. They
consistently implement support for children who speak English as a second language,
including lots of visuals and sound buttons reflecting their home language. Staff know the
children extremely well and adapt their practice consistently so that all children can
participate fully and make progress. Staff make careful assessment of children's starting
points. They carry out regular observations to help to identify children's next steps and any
gaps in their learning. This enables staff to respond promptly to any concerns. Leaders and
staff communicate effectively with parents and carers to ensure that children's next steps
and needs are identified and supported. This means that they can carefully identify all
children's needs and ensure they are understood and responded to promptly.
Leaders and staff are highly knowledgeable. They have a sound understanding of child
development and use this to help children to achieve and make the best progress possible.
Staff celebrate all achievements, no matter how small. Staff extend their knowledge through
courses and training. They share their learning with the wider team to improve staff
knowledge of different ways of learning. Staff share their expertise and practise some of the
techniques they have developed and learned through training to help improve outcomes for
children.
Additional funding is used effectively to support children. Staff and parents confidently
explain how this money is spent to support individual needs. Staff understand what the
funding is for and how this can be used effectively to support individual children's needs. For
example, they provide additional sessions for children who attend term time only to offer a
continuation to their learning. This gives staff autonomy in helping their key children to
achieve.
Leadership and governance Strong standard
There have been some changes to the leadership team since the last inspection. They have
worked closely with staff to implement more robust policies and procedures, particularly in
relation to supporting children with additional needs, and the reporting and recording of
accidents. Leaders have identified previous breaches and swiftly taken action to put things
right.
Leaders follow robust safer-recruitment procedures, including support, training, and
coaching for all new staff through their induction period. They carry out regular supervisions
with staff, where they discuss any issues, safeguarding concerns and identify areas for
improvement.

Leaders place a high emphasis on staff wellbeing, with staff offered in-house yoga and
meditation sessions. This, along with a flexible approach to work and a healthy work-life
balance, helps to promote a strong sense of positivity. Staff are passionate about training
and talk about the training they have accessed and the benefit of it. Leaders provide
unlimited support to staff to help extend and promote their professional development. They
offer opportunities for staff to access further training to enhance their roles and ensure their
knowledge is up to date.
Leaders create a culture of openness and promote strong partnerships with parents and
carers. They ensure that information is shared both ways, to provide the best opportunities
for children. They spend time getting to know families as well as children. This enables them
to provide tailored support to individual families to help meet their needs. Parents are highly
complementary about the setting and consistently talk about what their children enjoy, what
they have learned, and the progress they have made.
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

Voluntary Childcare Register requirements
This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.
How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Voluntary Childcare
Register
When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can
have the following outcomes:
Met
Not met
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children flourish in this setting, where their wellbeing and inclusion are at the heart of the
curriculum. They benefit from a carefully designed, highly ambitious curriculum that helps all
children to make progress towards their future learning. Everybody has a sense of belonging
and knows their place in the community. Interactions are sensitive and effective. Children
benefit from sound relationships with their key person, who know them well and talk
confidently about their next steps, interests and development. Staff demonstrate a robust
understanding of child development and activities they can offer to help encourage and
support their next steps. For example, in the baby room, children benefit from opportunities
to develop hand–eye coordination and follow their interest in throwing and rolling. In the
toddler room, children enjoy sharing stories with their key person. They sit comfortably,
enjoying some quiet cuddles while joining in with their favourite phrases from the book. In
pre-school, children explore sand and water play, where they talk confidently about their
home experiences of visiting the beach.
Children learn to be respectful and kind and treat each other with politeness and courtesy.
They learn about the local community and the wider world to help them develop an
understanding of others. For example, children learn about celebrations and festivals, and
other languages and cultures from their friends. Children celebrate their similarities and
differences, taking interest in learning about other people. Children develop independent
skills through their play and through routines, including transitions, such as lunchtime and
tidying up. There are extremely high expectations for children's behaviour and, as a result,
children quickly learn the routine and boundaries of the setting.

Inspector:
Michelle Highcock
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY456178
Address:
Manor House
23 Bolton Old Road, Atherton
MANCHESTER
M46 9DF
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 04/01/2013
Registered person: Sunbeams Atherton Ltd
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:00 - 18:00
Next steps
Leaders should continue with the setting's successful work to remove barriers for children
who need extra help, to realise a transformational impact on all children's achievements
and future learning.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, the special educational needs coordinator 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.
We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we
received about the provider. The provider will be able to give parents further information
about this.

Local authority: Wigan
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 14 September 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
75
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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