URN 2862758 · Inspected 2026-09-21 · Published 2026-10-22 · Inspector: Kelley Ellis Tara Naylor
Pippas House Nursery Unique reference number (URN): 2862758 Address: The Jockey Club, Sandown Park, Portsmouth Road, Esher, KT10 9AJ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 06/10/2025 Registers: EYR Registered person: Sweetmile Limited Inspection report: 21 September 2026 Exceptional Strong standard Expected standard Needs attention Urgent improvement Needs attention Safeguarding standards not met Leaders have not ensured that there is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that adequately protects children from harm. Leaders do not identify children who may be at risk of harm or require early help. They do not act promptly to ensure safeguarding concerns are referred to the relevant agencies. When staff raise safeguarding concerns about children, those with lead roles for safeguarding do not follow these up in a timely manner. This has led to a delay in referrals being made to protect children. This does not demonstrate that those with lead designated safeguarding roles fully understand their responsibilities to effectively promote the safety and welfare of all children. In addition, leaders have failed to ensure that all staff have robust safeguarding knowledge and fully understand how to report their concerns outside the nursery. Leaders have not ensured that staff receive effective supervisions to help identify gaps in their knowledge. Leaders have not taken reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised persons entering the premises. Children's safety and wellbeing are not assured. 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. Achievement Needs attention Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, do not receive sufficient opportunities to develop their knowledge across all areas of learning. Children make some progress from when they start at the nursery through activities and play of their choice. However, their learning is not promoted well enough by a curriculum that is fully understood and delivered reliably by staff. At times, children are not supported well enough to build on what they already know and can do. As such, they do not develop positive attitudes to learning to support their future development. Children are inquisitive and have a desire to learn. They are comfortable in their surroundings and seek play and engagement with their friends. Children use their strength and coordination well, such as to push down on the lever of large paint bottles to release the paint. They learn about early science, such as when they use paint brushes to mix paint colours together and talk to each other as they watch how the colour changes. This helps them to learn about what happens and why. Children develop their communication skills as they share back-and-forth conversations with others. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention Leaders have not made sure that staff's delivery of the curriculum helps children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to develop positive attitudes to learning. Children receive inconsistent experiences and teaching, which does not support them to deepen their thinking and focus intently on what they are doing. This has a negative impact on children's eagerness to learn. Leaders and staff's expectations for children's behaviour are appropriate for their age and stage of learning. Children follow consistent nursery routines, which helps them to feel secure and understand what is happening next. They are supported well by staff, such as when they transition through different aspects of the day. Staff and leaders promote children's attendance effectively. They recognise the positive impact that regular attendance has on developing children's secure foundations for routines. This supports children's emotional security. Mostly, children behave well. They are polite and follow directions. For instance, children respond positively to staff and willingly bring objects off the shelf when asked. Staff use supportive praise well to encourage children's responsible behaviours. Staff support children to share resources and take turns. They encourage children to be kind and caring to each other. Children learn to recognise the feelings and emotions of others. Curriculum and teaching Needs attention Leaders do not have a clear oversight of staff's understanding of the curriculum. As such, they have not recognised inconsistencies in the quality of staff's teaching and knowledge. Leaders have taken some action to improve the curriculum and teaching for children. While leaders' actions are appropriate to help children build on their skills, this is not fully rooted in staff's practice and understanding. Although some staff know the children well, leaders' ineffective key-person arrangements mean that other staff are not best placed to offer tailored care and learning to the children. In these circumstances, children do not receive purposeful learning experiences that help them to further deepen their knowledge. Staff provide some meaningful learning activities for children to engage in and enjoy. For example, staff provide wheeled toys for children to ride around the nursery garden and tunnels to crawl and slither through. This improves children's physical agility as they learn to move their bodies in a variety of ways. Staff sing songs and read stories aloud for children to join in. They develop children's love of books and help them to understand that print carries meaning. Staff support children's early mathematical skills, such as to encourage them to count coloured cones in the garden. Staff praise children well when they correctly identify the different colours. Urgent improvement Children's welfare and wellbeing Urgent improvement Leaders and staff do not assess and manage risk to children at the nursery effectively. Leaders and staff fail to notice gates left open and doors that do not close properly. This demonstrates ineffective risk assessment and poor knowledge to recognise hazards that pose a risk to children. Leaders do not put in place effective key-person arrangements that help children to develop secure relationships. This does not support children's emotional security or help them to successfully build on their skills. Too often, children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, do not have their individual care and learning needs met. Leaders' poor planning and lack of oversight mean that staffing arrangements do not ensure that children are cared for by qualified staff across the nursery. Leaders' ineffective staff deployment means that too often, children's needs are not met. However, staff have appropriate knowledge of how to keep children safe while they are sleeping. Staff support children to develop positive hygiene routines, such as when washing their hands before eating and after using the toilet. Staff supervise children well during mealtimes and help them to learn positive table manners. Inclusion Urgent improvement Leaders and staff do not swiftly identify children who require additional support and early help. Leaders' key-person arrangements are ineffective. This means that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are not supported well enough. For instance, children with SEND do not receive consistent care by their key person or other staff caring for them. This means that any tailored learning plans are not put in place, which reduces children's learning opportunities. At times, children's learning is incidental rather than intentional. Children who face barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing are often left without adequate support for their learning and development. For example, children who speak English as an additional language are not supported well enough to develop their confidence when communicating with others. This makes it harder for children to participate fully and to confidently express themselves. Leaders have not made certain that staff's teaching is of high quality for all children. This impacts, in particular, on the achievement for children with SEND and those with barriers to learning. Staff carry out regular reviews of children's learning, such as the progress checks at age 2, which helps them to understand where some children need support. Leaders and staff liaise with parents and carers and other professionals when making referrals to external agencies. Leadership and governance Urgent improvement Leadership and governance are not effective. Leaders have failed to follow the nursery's policies and procedures for keeping children safe, such as to make referrals to outside agencies in a timely manner. Although referrals have since been made, leaders' delay prevented adequate risk assessment being made to protect children quickly enough. They have not ensured that they remain compliant with the statutory requirements as they should. For example, leaders do not ensure the environment is safe and secure for children as they play and learn. The lack of oversight from leaders means that hazards are often overlooked, such as stagnant water in the play areas and broken doors to the nursery. Leaders do not equip staff well enough to identify and minimise risks. Leaders fail to ensure that the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are suitably met. The weaknesses in leaders' oversight result in ineffective organisation across the nursery. This hinders effective management and the smooth running of day-to-day practice. Consequently, staff lack direction, which has a negative impact on children's overall care and wellbeing. Leaders do not effectively identify and appropriately address gaps in staff's knowledge and understanding. Leaders do not recognise inconsistencies in some staff's skill to deliver a well-structured curriculum across the nursery, particularly in the older children's rooms. Staff do not receive the professional learning to help them improve their personal effectiveness. These weaknesses mean that children do not benefit from consistently high-quality learning experiences that promote their learning well enough. Leaders and staff value parents and carers as partners and seek their opinions. Parents are positive and receive information from staff about what their children learn while at nursery. What it's like to be a child at this setting Children's safety and welfare are not consistently prioritised at the nursery. For instance, leaders have not ensured that safeguarding concerns are reported without delay in line with local safeguarding partners' procedures. Staffing arrangements do not meet the required standards to ensure that staff are deployed in a way that meets children's needs. Leaders do not recognise gaps in staff's knowledge, such as about safeguarding. Leaders have not made sure that all children are allocated a key person. This means that children do not consistently receive care and learning opportunities by staff who know them well. This does not support children's emotional wellbeing effectively, and at times, provides inconsistent care and learning. Leaders and staff do not ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to prevent potential risk of harm to children. For instance, risks such as stagnant water in the garden and blocked fire exits go unnoticed by leaders and staff. This does not promote a positive safeguarding culture within the nursery. Although children make some progress, weaknesses in the curriculum and teaching have a negative impact on their overall achievement. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are not consistently cared for by staff that know them well and fully understand their individual care and learning needs. At times, children that require additional support lack challenge and stimulation. This does not suitably prepare them for their next stage of learning. Overall, children enjoy their time at the nursery. They are happy and content and move around with confidence. Children enjoy playing outdoors in the fresh air and staff are mostly available to support their play. For example, the youngest children enjoy exploring the sand. Staff provide spades and buckets and encourage children to scoop and pour. This supports children's physical development and early mathematical awareness. Older children develop hand–eye coordination as they participate in activities provided by staff, such as threading. At these times, children's learning and development are supported well. Next steps The provider is not meeting the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Ofsted intends to take enforcement action. We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to have taken the following actions by the assigned date: Action Completion Date provide effective safeguarding training for all leaders and staff to ensure a robust knowledge of safeguarding matters, including how to recognise and respond to child protection concerns in a timely manner 05/10/2026 improve staff and leaders' understanding of how to identify and minimise risk to promote children's safety and welfare 05/10/2026 ensure the premises are safe and secure with particular regard to preventing unauthorised persons from entering the premises 05/10/2026 ensure the qualification ratio requirements as specified in the 'Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage' are met at all times across the full staff team working directly with children 05/10/2026 put arrangements in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities so they receive the care and education they need to help them achieve the best possible outcomes 05/10/2026 Inspectors: Kelley Ellis Tara Naylor About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2862758 Action Completion Date implement effective key-person arrangements that meets children's individual care and learning needs and promotes their emotional wellbeing 05/10/2026 implement effective arrangements for the supervision of leaders and staff to support them in developing their practice and understanding of children's safety and learning needs 05/10/2026 To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage the provider must take the following action by the assigned date: Action Completion Date ensure an ambitious, well-structured curriculum is fully implemented and clearly understood by staff 02/11/2026 About this inspection The inspectors spoke with leaders, practitioners 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. Address: The Jockey Club Sandown Park, Portsmouth Road Esher KT10 9AJ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 06/10/2025 Registered person: Sweetmile Limited Register(s): EYR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00 Local authority: Surrey Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 21 September 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 100 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. 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