Fun To Learn Nursery & Pre-School

Fun To Learn Nursery & Pre-School
Unique reference number (URN): 155769
Address: Dallow Primary School, Dallow Road, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU1 1LZ
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 03/01/2001
Registers: EYR, CCR
Registered person: Dallow Community Nursery Committee
Inspection report: 27 November 2025
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 with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who
speak English as an additional language, make good progress in their learning and
development. Staff have clear strategies in place for communicating children's next steps,
which enables them to support all children. Children's learning is consolidated by repeating
activities, which builds children's confidence in the skills they have learned.
Children make expected progress in their physical development, in relation to their starting
points. The large garden area provides children with opportunities to run, jump, climb and
navigate the whole space. They become increasingly more aware of their surroundings,
developing their spatial awareness. Children know where it is safe to run and where they are
able to play on the bikes. Opportunities to do activities such as yoga support those who
have different physical interests. Children enjoy playing with and alongside other children.
They build on their social skills as staff encourage them to make friends and take turns
playing games.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Since the last inspection, leaders have adapted their session time to match local schools.
This has supported the needs of the local community and has increased attendance.
Leaders reflect that they need to continue communicating with families to help ensure that
any changing needs are met. Leaders and staff respond promptly when children do not
arrive for their session at nursery. They successfully implement their policies and procedures
to follow up on any absences that have not been notified to them, which helps to promote
children's regular attendance and punctuality.
Children's behaviour at the setting is exceptional. Children have a clear understanding of the
expectations of their behaviour, and this is demonstrated throughout the setting and day.
Any disputes are well handled by the staff and they are consistent in their approach.
Children are respectful of the staff team and there are strong relationships between all
children and staff. Children actively seek staff out to join in their games and are always keen
to complete targeted teaching opportunities. Staff encourage children to play together,
sharing toys and creating friendships. Staff plan activities to support those who find this
more challenging, and staff talk of lovely friendships that have been built for some children.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Settling-in procedures are effective. Staff comment on how quickly children settle at the
setting, attributing this to the home visits which take place. Children with special educational
needs and/or disabilities are well supported to join in with the setting's routines and
strategies to support them are put in place as needed. Key-person relationships are well
established. Children have good relationships with the whole staff team. Children are happy
to approach staff when they need comfort.

At snack time, staff talk to children about healthy and unhealthy foods. Children develop
their independence, for instance they choose what they like to eat and learn to prepare their
snack by spreading butter on crackers. Staff are knowledgeable of children's food choices
and allergies. They implement clear procedures to ensure children are provided with the
right food. Healthy eating information is shared with parents to support with lunch boxes,
and the setting is always reflecting on this. Leaders are aware of the importance of oral
hygiene within the setting. The team has worked hard to embed toothbrushing practices for
all children. They work closely with local dentists to ensure all children are registered with
and attend dental appointments.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders have a good understanding of the setting's curriculum and have clear plans in place
for continuing to develop this even further. The setting is situated in an area where children
speak English as an additional language. Therefore, leaders have designed the curriculum
with a focus on communication and language, and all staff are aware. Staff sequence
children's learning well, working with the local school to ensure that children are ready for
the next stage of learning. All children, regardless of their starting points, make good
progress in their learning and development.
Staff deploy themselves effectively around the setting. This allows them to support children
across all areas of the setting, both inside and out. Staff talk confidently about the room and
garden set-up. Time is taken to ensure that activities are set up purposefully to meet
children's next steps, and staff ensure that children understand the learning taking place.
For example, children count the number of bottles of water needed to fill tubs in the garden,
building on their mathematical knowledge. However, this is not consistent. Staff find it
challenging to manage this when all the children are in one room and the garden is closed.
Noise levels impact on staff interactions; however, this is something leaders have
recognised and are working with staff on.
Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders support staff to implement effective strategies to meet the needs of all children.
They ensure that staff are trained to support children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities. Staff are highly knowledgeable and use their knowledge and skills well to identify
and address gaps in children's learning. Staff break down instructions into smaller steps to
support children who speak English as an additional language. They use visual aids to
promote children's understanding of expected behaviours. Staff communicate effectively
with each other across the setting, sharing information on children's targets and next steps.
This enables all staff to support all children across the setting.
Leaders use additional funding effectively to enhance staffing arrangements and provide
support for individual children to access all areas of the curriculum. They have created an
additional space to provide children with a quieter area when they feel overwhelmed.
Leaders and staff work closely with other professionals to create common plans for
individual children's progress. They share the plans with parents to enable them to continue
children's learning at home. Parents comment that staff work closely with them to support

their children. This includes sharing knowledge and signposting them to outside agencies as
needed.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders have worked hard since the last inspection to build on staff's safeguarding
knowledge. They understand the importance of ensuring this knowledge remains at a high
level. Leaders have strengthened staff's knowledge of reporting concerns and have worked
closely with the local authority to ensure all staff are aware of local procedures.
Leaders have a good oversight of the setting. They can recognise priorities for
improvements and reflect on other areas they may need to improve. Leaders proudly share
the setting's strengths and talk of the effective work the setting does for children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities and the progress these children make. Retention of
staff demonstrates how well supported staff feel at the setting. Staff talk of the close
relationships they have with leaders and how they can have a voice within the setting.
Regular supervision meetings give staff time to talk to leaders about their key children as
well as their own wellbeing. All staff have access to a wide range of training opportunities,
and staff enjoy sharing their learning with each other at staff meetings.
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

What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children are greeted by the friendly staff on arrival and they settle well. They are happy and
eager to begin their day. Children have strong attachments with all staff, and they welcome
staff into their play. A strong key-worker system is in place and information is shared
effectively between staff to ensure consistency for all children. Children's interests are used
to create activities, and they enjoy spending long periods of time at them. For example,
children play with different vehicles before moving over to the creative table to build their
own. Staff use their knowledge of children to build on what they already know and can do.
Before children start at the setting, staff gather a wealth of information from parents at home
visits. This allows for true and accurate baseline assessments to be completed. Staff
understand that children start to develop at different rates. There are robust monitoring
processes in place to look at gaps in children's development. Where gaps are identified,
swift action is taken. Staff create plans to reduce these, working with both parents and other
professionals as required. This ensures that all children make progress in their learning and
development.
Leaders have a good understanding of the backgrounds of the children who attend, which is
reflected in the strong curriculum focus on communication and language development. Staff
use visual materials to build on children's understanding of English and support with the
spoken word. Staff narrate activities to children and introduce them to new words. Regular
attendance is encouraged by the setting. Leaders work closely with parents to form strong
parent partnerships. However, they recognise that they do not consistently review parents'
views to see if any changes or adaptations, such as session times, are needed to help meet
the ever-changing cohort of families.
Next steps
To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Childcare register the
provider must take the following action by the assigned date:
Action Completion
Date
reflect on the way children can access their full funding entitlement
to ensure attendance meets the high expectations of the provider
01/04/2026
Leaders should manage the environment more effectively to help children remain focused
and concentrate on their learning.
Leaders should strengthen processes to share information effectively with parents.

Inspector:
Lisa Smith
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 155769
Address:
Dallow Primary School
Dallow Road
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU1 1LZ
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 03/01/2001
Registered person: Dallow Community Nursery Committee
Register(s): EYR, CCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 16:00
Local authority: Luton
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 27 November 2025
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with the manager, the special educational needs and disabilities
coordinator, staff members 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.

Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
2 to 4
Total number of places
42
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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