Bright Horizons Abbeymore Day Nursery and Preschool

Bright Horizons Abbeymore Day Nursery andPreschool
Unique reference number (URN): EY305866
Address: 161 Wokingham Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 1LP
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 22/04/2005
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: Bright Horizons Family Solutions Limited
Inspection report: 10 August 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement

Expected standard
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.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Leaders and staff generally promote children's welfare and wellbeing securely. They gain
appropriate information from parents when children first start and maintain ongoing
communication to ensure settling-in sessions meet their needs. For example, staff gather
information from parents about the toys and activities children enjoy and provide these
during settling-in visits, such as singing and books. This helps children to begin to feel
secure and at ease in their new environment and promotes positive bonds with staff. Staff
help children to begin to understand and recognise their emotions and feelings through
activities. For example, they look at books and draw faces to explore if they are happy or
sad.
Staff know how to implement food safety procedures, such as checking children's individual
dietary requirements on their place cards before giving them food. Leaders ensure staff
appropriately supervise children while eating with a dedicated staff member remaining at the
table. Leaders typically ensure that across the day children receive appropriate meals and
snacks to adequately promote their good health and nutrition. Pre-school children follow
expected routines well, including knowing to wash their hands before eating. Children
develop their independence. Babies learn to feed themselves, and older children serve their
food and pour their drinks.
Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders and staff typically know the children well and understand their needs, such as other
languages spoken at home. They support children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities or those with other barriers to their learning securely. For example, staff use
picture prompts to help children understand what is happening now and next. At times, staff
use sign language with children to help support communication with them. Leaders
generally demonstrate they understand how to develop inclusion practice further to support

Needs attention
and include children's additional needs. They take steps to enhance the inclusion of
children, such as those learning English as an additional language, including requesting key
words and how to say these in children's home languages from parents.
Leaders and staff work closely with parents and other agencies to support consistency in the
support they provide for children. Leaders and staff consider children's needs for support
and how to help close any gaps in development. They put in place individual learning plans
to focus on areas of children's development that need extra support. These are reviewed
regularly to monitor the progress children make. Leaders use additional funding
appropriately to help buy resources and equipment to support children's individual needs.
Achievement Needs attention
Children do not always receive interactions to support their understanding, vocabulary and
speech securely. At times, children are not always fully engaged in play and activities to help
them sustain their interest in learning. Some children do not make the progress they are
capable of.
Children with additional needs benefit from staff adapting approaches to help support their
individual learning needs. Overall, children build on their awareness of numbers and
counting, including through daily routines, such as counting out their snack or spoonfuls of
lunch. Children build generally appropriate levels of confidence to explore their environment
and activities. Some children develop and build on skills to help prepare them for their next
stage of learning, including school.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention
Staff do not always encourage children's engagement in activities and play experiences well
enough. Sometimes, children wander around and do not engage purposefully in play or
learning or benefit from staff interactions to support their participation. Staff generally
manage children's behaviour appropriately with consistent positive reinforcement and
praise, and overall, children behave well. There are times when staff do not minimise the
repetition of the same behaviours by children as they do not redirect or involve them in other
activities. This does not help engage children in more purposeful learning experiences.
Children typically form positive relationships with staff and each other. For example, children
seek staff out for support and reassurance when they need to. Key staff members know their
key children and their needs well. For instance, staff follow the same sleep routines that
babies have at home, which offers familiarity to them. Leaders understand their
responsibilities to monitor and encourage children's regular attendance and highlight the
importance of establishing routines. This supports children for their future education at
school. Leaders have secure procedures to follow up on any children's unexpected
absences.

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
Leaders do not always identify and address weaknesses in staff's teaching and practice well
enough. Although some staff provide positive interactions and teaching, other staff, such as
bank staff and those with less experience, do not offer consistent or effective support to
children to promote their learning and development. Some staff do not demonstrate
sufficient understanding of the curriculum and how to implement this. For example, they do
not engage consistently with children and at times do not respond to them and just watch
them play. These staff do not offer sufficiently purposeful interactions, teaching or support to
ensure that children learn and progress. This does not promote children's language and
social skills well enough. Although staff generally address unwanted behaviours of children,
they do not always seek to engage them in more meaningful play and activities to distract
them from repeating the same behaviour.
Nevertheless, staff who provide better quality interactions and teaching engage well with
children, such as singing songs with babies and exploring sensory materials with them. Staff
who provide secure teaching and interactions encourage toddlers to make marks in soap
flakes and promote their physical, social and language skills. Staff who engage effectively
develop pre-school children's listening skills, including engaging them through reading
stories to them. They help pre-school children to learn to follow instructions well, such as
while singing action songs. Staff typically support children with special educational needs
and/or disabilities or other barriers to their learning securely and implement approaches and
reviews of their learning and development.
Leadership and governance Needs attention
There have been some recent changes in leadership at the nursery. The new leadership
team is beginning to take steps to review staff's practice, such as through observations,
although this is still in its early stages. This has not enabled leaders to identify all areas of
staff's practice that need further support, to help them develop staff's skills and knowledge to
raise the quality of the overall provision.
Leaders manage and support staff's workload and wellbeing well. Staff say they feel
supported and that they have opportunities for professional development and training,
including completing an induction. However, this does not always have sufficient impact on
all staff's practice. Leaders understand their safeguarding responsibilities securely and know
how to refer concerns to relevant outside agencies. They regularly check staff's knowledge
and understanding of how to recognise and respond to concerns about children's welfare or
other staff's behaviours. This helps staff to feel confident to escalate any concerns.
Leaders and staff generally develop positive partnerships with parents and others. They
make links with other settings children attend and work with other professionals when
required, such as to support children's additional needs. Staff typically provide verbal and
written feedback to parents about their children, including activity ideas to try at home.
Parents comment that staff are friendly and welcoming and that they receive information
about their child's development and progress.

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
At times, not all children are effectively supported to explore and engage in activities well,
including those who need more support than others to enable them to take part. Some staff
do not consistently encourage children to take part in purposeful learning and play or
actively interact with children to support their needs. At times, some children wander around
without being encouraged by staff to play and learn. This is particularly evident for the
younger children. Children typically show that they understand the expectations of the
nursery and know the routines. Staff encourage children to understand why they should not

be doing something and how to keep themselves safe. However, staff do not always
recognise when children need redirection and encouragement to engage in activities to
support their learning.
Pre-school children and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other
barriers to their learning generally receive better interactions and support from staff. At
times, younger children engage with staff who support them better, such as enjoying songs
sung to them. Babies move to the music and join in with some words and actions at times.
However, some staff do not encourage younger children's communication and language
skills well enough. Some staff speak rapidly to younger children or repeatedly say the same
word to them. This does not promote younger children's language skills effectively.
Children are typically happy and settled. They form suitably positive relationships with staff
and other children. This generally helps them to feel safe so that they enjoy their time at
nursery. Children routinely build on their independence and self-care skills well. For
example, some older children use a mirror to clean their faces after eating. Children develop
appropriate physical skills. Babies use equipment to pull themselves into standing positions
and learn to manage steps and stairs as they get older. Staff encourage older children to
persevere at larger climbing apparatus, and they have fun when completing an obstacle
course. Children show pride in their achievements.
Next steps
To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the
provider must take the following actions by the assigned date:
Action Completion Date
ensure staff's practice is monitored effectively to identify
and address gaps in their work to enable them to
support and meet children's needs consistently
11/09/2026
ensure staff know and understand how to implement
the curriculum to engage children in consistent
interactions to promote their learning needs securely
11/09/2026
About this inspection
The inspectors spoke with leaders, staff, parents 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.

Inspectors:
Sheena Bankier
Nicky Butler
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY305866
Address:
161 Wokingham Road
Reading
Berkshire
RG6 1LP
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 22/04/2005
Registered person: Bright Horizons Family Solutions Limited
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:30
Local authority: Reading
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 10 August 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
There has been a very recent change of manager at the nursery since the last inspection.

Total number of places
124
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? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information
and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn.
Piccadilly Gate
Store Street
Manchester
M1 2WD
T: 0300 123 1231
Textphone: 0161 618 8524
E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk
W: www.gov.uk/ofsted
© Crown copyright 2026
© Crown copyright