Learn and Grow Childcare

Learn and Grow Childcare
Unique reference number (URN): 2767121
Address: 62-63 Merrick House, Whale Avenue, Reading, RG2 0GX
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 22/12/2023
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Learn and Grow Childcare Ltd
Inspection report: 24 February 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.

Needs attention
Urgent improvement
Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention
Staff build bonds with children that help them feel safe and secure. Where children,
including the youngest, need extra help in moving into nursery, staff offer comfort and
reassurance. This helps children to grow in confidence and develops their emotional
wellbeing. Routines that support children's individual needs are supported well. For
instance, children benefit from nutritious meals and rest times, where they can sleep safely.
Staff teach children about routines that support their physical health. There are opportunities
for physical play outdoors, where children practise hula hoop and how to throw and catch
balls.
However, where there are weaknesses in the support that children receive to express and
manage their emotions in a positive way, this has an impact on children's overall wellbeing.
At times, children do not express themselves positively and staff do too little to address this.
Furthermore, where children, including those with special educational needs and/or
disabilities and those who face barriers to learning, are not helped to express themselves,
this leads to periods of frustration where they cannot make their wants, needs or wishes
clearly shared with peers or staff. This affects their emotional security and overall wellbeing.
Achievement Urgent improvement
Children's achievement across the nursery is not consistent enough to ensure they develop
a secure foundation for future learning. Some children, including those with special
educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning, do not achieve
well enough from their starting points. Children's communication and language skills show
consistent gaps in progress across the nursery. Where children start to fall behind, too little
is done by leaders to help them catch up. Children are not able to communicate what they
want or need and this leads to periods of frustration for them.
Children are not developing the social skills they need in readiness for school. At times,
children ignore requests staff make of them, they argue and fight with peers, which staff do
not address effectively.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Urgent improvement
Leaders and staff understand the benefits of creating a positive environment for children.
They share with parents their expectations for regular and prompt attendance, and they
communicate clearly what behaviours they expect from children. However, these
expectations are not used effectively to help children understand how to get along with
others. For example, when toddlers are asked to sit at mealtimes, they refuse and staff do
not use this as an opportunity to support their social development or guide them towards

positive behaviour. Staff role model kindness and respect, for instance they praise younger
children as they put away toys, as they smile with delight.
Staff are aware that some pre-schoolers behaviour also requires greater focus. The
management team does not provide timely or effective support to help staff address
weaknesses in children's social skills, including behaviour. For instance, older children argue
and push each other and begin to cry when children spoil games they are taking part in.
Staff look on, but at times do not intervene to help children learn about positive behaviours.
This means that children do not learn the importance of valuing and respecting the needs of
their peers through kindness and courtesy.
Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement
Leaders' planning for the curriculum does not focus on priorities for children's learning,
including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Prioritisation of children's
communication and language skills is not identified or planned for across the nursery.
Leaders and staff have differing ideas on what they want children to learn. Consequently,
the delivery of the curriculum is varied. Staff do not use assessment routinely to check what
children know and can do, or to adapt their teaching. There have been changes to the staff
team, which are not well managed. Teaching, at times is variable and has too little impact for
children. Where teaching is better, some staff recognise how to sequence learning through
activities they provide. For instance, as babies play with modelling dough, they develop their
hand-eye coordination skills. This helps them build control over physical coordination as
they later learn to feed themselves using spoons.
Staff use opportunities in their play to model language, for instance staff name the
watermelon children eat to build on some vocabulary skills. However, where children need
additional support in their speaking skills and their personal, social and emotional
development, staff do not know how best to support them. This means that targeted
teaching is not put in place to support children across the nursery.
Inclusion Urgent improvement
Leaders and staff provide an inclusive practice. They use funding to support the regular
attendance of disadvantaged children. However, leaders do need to ensure children with
have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their
learning receive the support they need to make the progress they are capable of. Although
staff identify emerging concerns about children's progress, particularly in their
communication skills, too little is done to address this, because staff have not received
sufficient training to apply the graduated approach effectively. Staff put plans in place to
support children, but they are ineffective and do not help children catch up. Where
relationships with other professionals are established, they are ineffective. For example,
where children have speech assessments, leaders and staff do not implement advice given
on how to support children.
Leaders do not oversee the monitoring of children's progress to work with staff, to check and
plan for priorities that children have in their learning. As children move between rooms,
leaders and staff do not check what children know and can do well enough to identify where
children need support, what is being done to support them and what can be continued.

Consequently, leaders and staff do not identify trends in progress for some children, which
has a detrimental effect on their communication skills. Gaps in children's progress widen.
Leadership and governance Urgent improvement
There have been some changes to the staff team since the last inspection. The provider
now takes overall responsibility for the day-to-day running of the setting, with a second
manager in place. Leaders have worked with the local authority to address actions, some
successfully. For instance, noise has been reduced in the baby room and policies and
procedures about safeguarding have been updated and shared with staff, so that they know
how to identity and report child protection concerns. However, leadership is still weak. Too
little is done to identify and address underlying causes of weakness that have an impact on
children.
Staff supervision helps to support wellbeing. However, targeted support for staff professional
development is ineffective. Leaders recognise the curriculum is not targeting areas where
priorities for children's learning should be focused. Staff training is not effective in
addressing gaps in their knowledge, including supporting children's communication and
language skills and how this is being monitored. Furthermore, targeted support for staff in
managing children's behaviour is not put in place or monitored, meaning newer staff do not
get the coaching and support they need. Leaders do work with parents and other
professionals, however, this is not effective to ensure children, including those with special
educational needs and/or disabilities, have the support they need.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Overall, weaknesses in leadership, curriculum design and staff development limit children's
progress and experiences across the setting. Leadership within the setting remains weak.
Recent staff changes have not been well managed. Although staff supervision has improved
safeguarding knowledge, staff still lack the skills to meet children's developmental needs,
particularly in communication and language. Leaders do not identify gaps in staff knowledge
or practice to provide targeted training, leaving staff unsure how to support, monitor and
track children's progress. This has a detrimental impact on children, including those with
special educational needs and/or disabilities, who do not receive the support required to
thrive.
Staff are kind and caring. Overall, children become confident in some routines, such as
toileting and mealtimes. Improvements to the key-person approach helps babies and less-

confident children feel settled, safe and secure. Children develop some friendships with their
peers. However, at times, older children do not learn about kindness and respect towards
each other, or to staff. For example, during a a cooking activity, children argue and push
each other as they squabble over resources. Staff notice this but do not help children to
understand how their behaviour affects their friends.
The curriculum is weak. Leaders' vision of what they want children to achieve is not focused
on priorities. Furthermore, their vision is not communicated effectively to staff. Consequently,
staff are not always clear on what they expect children to learn. This means children do not
experience teaching and activities that help them to build on what they already know.
Sometimes, they lack meaningful engagement and enjoyment in their learning. Where
children start behind in their language skills, too little is done to address this from the outset.
Gaps in children's skills widen, and they are not supported well enough to make age-
appropriate progress.
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
ensure that persons with governance and oversight understand and
fulfil their roles and responsibilities
20/03/2026
improve staff supervisions to identify training needs and put in place
coaching and support to raise the quality of teaching
20/03/2026
ensure that the needs of children with special educational needs
and/or disabilities (SEND) are met through agreed strategies that are
understood and consistently implemented by all staff
20/03/2026
ensure staff use effective behaviour management strategies and give
children consistent support and guidance to help them learn how to
behave well
20/03/2026
To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage the provider must take the
following actions by the assigned date:
Action Completion
Date
ensure children who have emerging gaps within their speech and
language skills receive the support and early intervention they need
01/04/2026

Inspector:
Tara Naylor
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2767121
Address:
62-63 Merrick House, Whale Avenue
Reading
RG2 0GX
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 22/12/2023
Registered person: Learn and Grow Childcare Ltd
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00
Local authority: Reading
Action Completion
Date
without delay
improve staff's understanding of how to use their knowledge of
children to accurately assess and monitor their progress, to help them
plan and tailor learning experiences for children and ensure they make
good progress in their development
01/04/2026
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator,
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.

Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 24 February 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
111
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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