URN 2824948 · Inspected 2026-09-22 · Published 2026-10-20 · Inspector: Andrew Clark
Wales Woodland Nursery Unique reference number (URN): 2824948 Address: Wales Primary School, School Road, Wales, Sheffield, S26 5QG Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 04/03/2025 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: WCCP Ltd Inspection report: 22 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 Expected standard Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard Leaders and staff have very high expectations for children's positive behaviour and attitudes throughout the nursery. Staff are consistently strong role models and establish warm relationships with all children, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They build positive routines from the start so that children soon learn to feel confident and assured. Staff work closely with parents and carers to reflect home routines, such as sleep times. Children confidently settle into nursery life. As a result, all children are very well behaved and show care for others. For example, they are patient and polite at snack and mealtimes and follow staff's very positive example. Staff make effective use of carefully considered routines to develop children's sense of belonging. For instance, welcome songs at the start of the day encourage children to greet each other warmly and to recognise each other's names. Children are proud to share their ideas with adults and other children. For example, they keenly explain that they are gathering lavender and other wild flower seeds to create special food for the bees to enjoy. Children's attendance and punctuality is positively encouraged. There are well-established routines for staff and parents to communicate if there are any unexplained absences. Achievement Expected standard All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make progress throughout their time in the nursery from their individual starting points. They generally acquire the skills and understanding they need for their future learning. For example, children who need additional support for their physical needs are carefully encouraged and guided to develop their movement skills and sense of balance through a range of activities. Children develop a love of books. They respond well to staff's skilful reading of a wide range of stories. Children enjoy choosing and sharing favourite stories together. They learn to listen with increasing understanding, to follow the plot and to understand the emotions and thoughts of the characters. Children develop their mathematical skills progressively. They enjoy counting the bubbles they blow, for instance, and discussing whether they go 'up', 'down', 'near' or 'far away'. Children learn to develop their creative skills as they make large chalk pictures on the ground or create interesting designs as they mix powder paints to produce new colours. Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard Leaders and staff focus on promoting children's welfare and wellbeing needs overall. This starts with the children's key workers establishing positive relationships with parents and carers to understand all children's personal needs. As a result, children settle effectively into the daily routines and care of the staff. Staff ensure that children who have additional concerns, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive timely support to engage in nursery life. Leaders and staff work together to ensure children are safe indoors and out. They are vigilant when children travel and play indoors and out. They involve the children in considering their own safety and encourage them to follow instructions and recognise each other's needs. Staff follow nationally agreed safe-sleeping procedures to ensure young children get the rest they need in a caring and secure environment. Staff generally support children's personal hygiene and toilet training, ensuring children have the privacy and protection they need during nappy changes. Children are supported and encouraged to recognise their own personal and emotional needs. For example, they learn to independently wash their hands thoroughly after activities and before eating. Staff work with parents to ensure that children's packed lunches are healthy. Children learn about the benefits of eating healthily as they plant, nurture and harvest vegetables and flowers. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard The experienced leadership team has established a curriculum framework to support children's overall progress through the nursery. They have worked with staff to create clear goals for children to achieve as they progress through the nursery and to build a breadth of skills, knowledge and understanding that aim to support children's future learning. Staff are enthusiastic and committed to the caring and positive ethos the nursery promotes. They make effective use of observations and assessments to understand what children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, need to learn next. However, the planning does not always ensure staff consistently reinforce and embed children's recent and new learning. For example, staff introduce older children to words and phrases to describe the weather and seasons. They do not take opportunities to reinforce this learning through children's further activities, including their plentiful time in the woodland outdoor grounds. Staff are skilled at asking children questions and engaging them in conversations that further promote communication and language skills. They often ask questions that encourage children to think and explain their reasoning. However, they do not consistently follow up on the answers that children give to deepen and enrich their learning further. Leaders place a positive emphasis on supporting all children's independence and confidence, particularly those who are vulnerable, such as those who are known or previously known to social care. Staff develop clear routines that help children understand what happens during the day to build their confidence in creating positive relationships and working and playing together. Inclusion Expected standard Leaders prioritise the needs of children who are in any way vulnerable and need additional support. Staff closely monitor and accurately assess children's skills, knowledge and understanding from the start and throughout their time in the nursery. This helps staff to promptly identify any children who may need further help, such as children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff work closely with parents and carers to understand children's immediate and longer-term needs, such as medical or communication concerns, and to identify the support and guidance needed. Leaders support staff well to monitor children's progress and identify the next steps for their learning. These are regularly reviewed and adjusted to secure and build on their achievement. Staff act in consultation with other professionals, such as speech and language therapists and the local authority inclusion team, to secure the best advice to support children's specific needs. They make generally effective use of additional funding. For example, to develop staff's skills in supporting children with communication difficulties. As a result, these children typically acquire the skills and knowledge they need to support their future progress. Leadership and governance Expected standard The experienced leadership team has established a positive, warm and caring ethos throughout the nursery. Staff feel valued and respected. Leaders provide a generally clear oversight of the nursery's strengths through regular self-evaluation procedures that include regular parental questionnaires, staff supervision and links with the local authority. However, leaders do not make full use of a broad range of external research and guidance to provide the sharpest direction for further development, to achieve the highest quality of provision. Staff are well qualified for their roles overall, and there are positive procedures for recruitment and induction into the nursery. Leaders ensure all staff have training in paediatric first aid and safeguarding. However, further opportunities for staff training are not fully based on analysis of the curriculum and learning the nursery provides. Leaders take positive steps to help children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities or have other possible barriers to their learning. Leaders work very well with parents and carers to share ideas on what will help children to continue to develop their skills outside of the setting at home. Parents are very positively committed to the nursery's ethos and warmly appreciate the relationship and communication with staff. 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 are happy and engaged in this well-managed nursery. They typically achieve well, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and are prepared for the next stage in their learning and development, including starting school. Children and their families are warmly greeted each day by senior leaders and familiar staff, contributing to their developing self-awareness and sense of belonging. They quickly settle into daily routines that staff plan to encourage their independence and confidence. For example, they learn to register their arrival and choose from a range of activities that reflect their interests Inspector: Andrew Clark and enthusiasms. Two-year-olds, for instance, learn to name and sort different zoo animals, inspired by the 'lift-the-flap' book they enjoy listening to. Older children create imaginative role play and creative activities based on their popular superhero toys and stories. Children feel safe and trusted. They learn to explore the spacious woodland grounds. For example, staff encourage them to develop their counting and observation skills through 'hide and seek' and other games. They generally build their physical control and body management as they learn to safely climb trees or manage their balance bikes on the twisty pathways. Children are very well behaved. They know what is expected of them and respond to staff's clear instructions and thoughtful guidance. They learn to play alongside other children, join in with group activities and to share their thoughts and opinions. Children settle smoothly into nursery life, supported by the positive relationships staff build with their parents and carers from the start. Parents appreciate the frequent feedback they are given on their children's progress, including through the focused 'spotlight' assessment weeks. They welcome opportunities to contribute to their children's learning and development and the sensitive support for key events, such as toilet training and emotional needs. Next steps Leaders should further build on the positive curriculum planning to fully reinforce, extend and deepen children's development of knowledge, understanding and learning skills. Leaders should further support staff to ensure their interaction with children consistently deepens the skills, knowledge and understanding children need to acquire next. Leaders should strength their self-evaluation and staff's performance management procedures to ensure training and development promotes the highest standards of provision. About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, staff including the special educational needs coordinator, children 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. About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2824948 Address: Wales Primary School School Road, Wales Sheffield S26 5QG Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 04/03/2025 Registered person: WCCP Ltd Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00 Local authority: Rotherham Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 22 September 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 2 to 10 Total number of places 40 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