St Michaels Nursery & Preschool

St Michaels Nursery & Preschool
Unique reference number (URN): 2816724
Address: St. Michaels Church & Pastoral Centre, Lower Church Road, Sandhurst, GU47 8HN
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 24/01/2025
Registers: EYR
Registered person: St Michaels Nursery & Pre School Ltd
Inspection report: 20 January 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.

Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
All children, including those in receipt of additional funding, make age-appropriate progress
through the curriculum, helping them build strong foundations for future learning. Babies
show enthusiasm for exploring their environment as staff support them to develop
confidence in their early physical skills, such as crawling and walking. They begin to babble
and develop early language as staff model sounds and words through warm, back-and-forth
interactions.
Older children develop their thinking and communication skills as staff ask purposeful
questions and give them time to consider and share their ideas. For example, during group
time, children reflect on what day it might be today if yesterday was Monday. As a result of
this well-planned support, children are well prepared for the next stage in their learning,
including their eventual transition to school.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders and staff create a welcoming environment for children. They develop relationships
with families that enable regular and punctual attendance of all children through a
thoughtfully considered settling-in process. The relationship between staff and babies is
warm and caring. Staff use these close bonds at times when babies need reassurance. As a
result, babies respond to staff, showing that bonds help them feel safe and secure.
Children follow the well-established routines with confidence. Kindness, care and courtesy
are a strong ethos of the setting. Children learn about high expectations for positive
behaviours from the outset. Staff use daily group times to talk about the importance of kind
play in age-appropriate ways. For instance, children talk about it being important to walk
indoors, so they do not slip or fall. Where children need additional help with collaborative
play, staff help children with this. This helps to support positive attitudes to learning,
including sharing and turn-taking in a fair and kind way. Staff use these opportunities to
praise children to reinforce the social skills children learn. They focus on this area of
children's learning well, and this helps children to develop secure friendships with others.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Staff working with babies get to know them and their families to understand their needs.
Care routines, including those around sleep, are tailored to ensure that their needs are met
throughout the day. For instance, as babies are weaning, staff work in partnership with
parents to introduce finger foods. They sensitively reduce the amount of time babies use
dummies to support their early communication skills. Staff encourage children to learn about
feelings and emotions and how to express these. For example, children talk about what
makes them happy or angry, as staff listen attentively to them, embedding their
understanding of their own emotions.

Overall, children are able to manage some age-appropriate activities for themselves. For
instance, staff work with parents to toilet train children in readiness for school. They praise
children as they use the toilet and teach them the importance of handwashing during these
routines. However, there are times when staff do not consider how they can further
encourage children's independence. For example, they do not always support children to
independently wipe their own noses. Furthermore, they do not capture opportunities to help
babies learn to feed themselves using age-appropriate cutlery during shared mealtimes.
Staff tend to lead these routines and do not consistently use these opportunities to further
children's independence and physical development.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders provide a broad and well-structured curriculum that is carefully tailored and
prioritises children's development across the areas of learning. They ensure that staff adapt
teaching to meet the needs of all children in age-appropriate ways. Leaders and
practitioners understand the needs of all children, including those with special educational
needs and/or disabilities and those where there are barriers to learning. Leaders regularly
review children's progress and plan for their future learning. However, at times, they do not
fully consider the precise learning intentions of activities, which means teaching is not
always directed towards what children need to learn next. As a result, children occasionally
lose interest in activities and are not consistently fully engaged.
Staff working with babies place a keen emphasis on early language development, modelling
words and sounds during planned activities and spontaneous play. They teach children
specific physical skills and encourage them to practise these to build their skills. Leaders
have a clear understanding of the learning priorities for older children. They have
strengthened staff's practice as they continue the focus on language development. Staff
make the most of opportunities to introduce new vocabulary through stories, group times
and conversations that encourage children to think, reason and express their ideas clearly.
The mathematics curriculum is still developing. Leaders recognise the need to refine it
further so that staff can plan and teach mathematical concepts more consistently through
daily routines and activities.
Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders and staff recognise the importance of inclusion for all children and their families.
They demonstrate an understanding of children's unique needs and changing
circumstances. Staff and leaders use their observations and assessments effectively to
identify where children may need additional support. This helps them access appropriate
support for all children, when this is required. From the outset, leaders and staff work closely
with families to create a two-way flow of information about each child's needs.
Staff undertake suitable training and are supported to take the time to understand how they
can best support every child. They know how to observe, assess and plan for children's
learning and how to target any areas of their development, where appropriate. Leaders and
staff build focused relationships with other professionals and the local authority. These
further enhance the support in place for families. When children receive additional funding,
leaders use it purposefully to target the areas where children need it most. For example,

they provide a shared library to ensure that all children have equal access to their favourite
books. Families enjoy borrowing these books to share stories at home, giving every child the
same opportunity to develop their language skills while fostering an early love of reading.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders and staff share a clear vision for children: to achieve, belong and thrive. Leaders
have a strong understanding of their community and recognise the strengths and priorities
for the babies and children in their care. They reflect carefully on their provision to ensure
that decisions about improvement directly benefit all children. Parents speak highly of the
setting. They comment on the high-quality care their children receive and value the advice
and support offered. This helps them continue learning at home. Partnerships within the
community, particularly with the local school, help shape children's readiness for school. For
instance, children develop a love of books through the focus that leaders have on this area
of their learning. Leaders recognise how this can help lay good foundations for future
learning.
Leaders prioritise staff's wellbeing, ensuring that workloads are manageable and that staff
feel valued and supported in their roles. Staff benefit from professional development that
builds on their knowledge and skills. For example, they explain that leaders' mentoring
enables them to put theories of child development into practice during daily routines.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children develop a strong sense of belonging through the caring relationships they build
with staff. Older children develop friendships with their peers and relish opportunities to play
and learn. Babies benefit from close relationships with staff who know their individual
personalities and care needs well. Cuddles and reassurance help children to feel safe,
secure and confident. Leaders and staff understand how their focus on children's personal,
social and emotional development benefits children from the outset. They encourage good
manners, and children learn how to be polite, courteous and kind with adults and other
children. For example, at snack time, older children learn how to say 'please' and 'thank you'
as friends pass water jugs and offer bowls to each other, gaining some independence.
Leaders and staff focus on embedding children's personal, social and emotional
development, which helps to prepare children for their next stage in learning, including
school.

Inspector:
Tara Naylor
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2816724
Address:
St. Michaels Church & Pastoral Centre
Lower Church Road
Children enjoy learning as staff plan and provide activities that ignite their curiosity. For
instance, babies explore coloured rice, feeling its different texture and noticing what
happens as rice falls to the tray. Older children learn about days of the week, as staff teach
them rhymes to remember them in order. Children develop age-appropriate knowledge
across the curriculum. Where children may face barriers to learning, leaders and staff work
closely together to target these. This has a positive impact for children, particularly where
there are gaps in development in some areas of learning. Children's consistent attendance
enables them to benefit from the learning opportunities the setting provides. Staff share with
parents the importance of prompt and regular attendance to ensure that children benefit
from continuity.
Next steps
Leaders should enhance the mathematics curriculum by creating more opportunities for
children to build their knowledge and understanding through play and everyday routines.
Leaders should support staff to implement precise learning intentions of activities more
effectively so that children remain fully engaged in their learning.
Leaders should support staff to recognise when children are able to do things
independently and understand how to help them build on and strengthen their
independence skills.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, 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.

Sandhurst
GU47 8HN
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 24/01/2025
Registered person: St Michaels Nursery & Pre School Ltd
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 17:30
Local authority: Bracknell Forest
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 20 January 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
31
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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