Culham Village Nursery and Preschool

Culham Village Nursery and Preschool
Unique reference number (URN): 2803375
Address: High Street, Culham, Abingdon, OX14 4NB
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 19/08/2024
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Oxfordshire Nurseries Limited
Inspection report: 14 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's needs, including those who may have barriers to their learning, make the
progress they are capable of. They develop skills for their future learning, such as being
able to listen and express their needs.
Children build on their communication and language skills securely. For instance, babies
babble and start to form words as staff talk to them, repeat words and read books to them.
Children engage with activities positively and maintain their attention securely. For instance,
toddlers stay sitting together as they enjoy singing songs and rhymes so much. Younger
pre-school children spend time experimenting with water, dough and paint, which helps to
develop their concentration and small physical skills.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Children engage in activities with enthusiasm. They benefit from group activities that involve
sharing and cooperating with their friends. For example, older and younger pre-school
children are paired up for forest school activities and are encouraged to work together to find
items, such as pine cones. Staff listen to children well and respect their decisions, such as
when they prefer not to hold hands during an action song.
Leaders and staff have established a calm and welcoming environment for children where
their regular attendance is promoted. There are effective settling-in processes for children
on entry and when they move rooms, such as settling-in visits. Staff consistently gather
information about children's needs and how to support these. Staff and children form
positive relationships with each other. There are familiar daily routines for children, which
also take account of babies' individual care routines, such as sleep times. Toddlers and pre-
school children know the routines and follow these easily, such as washing their hands and
sitting down to eat at snack time and mealtimes.
There are consistent rules and boundaries across the nursery, which are adapted for
children's different ages and abilities. For example, staff use words such as 'gentle' and
model caring actions when encouraging interactions between babies. Older children recall
some of the rules and boundaries, such as for their visit to forest school. Staff model positive
behaviours to children, including being calm. They praise and encourage children, which
helps to build their confidence effectively.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Children enjoy their time at nursery. They are welcomed warmly by staff on arrival, which
helps them to leave their parents. Children form close, caring relationships with their key
person and other staff, helping them to feel very comfortable, safe, secure and happy. New
children, particularly babies, settle quickly. Staff provide extra support to new children and
other children when they need more reassurance. They help children to learn about their
feelings and emotions, such as through using books to explore these.

Staff are respectful and ask children, such as toddlers, if they can change their nappies, and
explain why they need to do this. They talk and sing to babies when changing their nappies,
making this a warm and caring time. Older children learn about what clothing they need to
wear outdoors. Staff explain to pre-school children about how running around outside helps
them to feel warm on a cold day. Staff help children to recognise the potential risks, such as
slipping over as it might be icy. This helps children to gain awareness of how to care for
themselves.
Children benefit from nutritious snacks and meals. Staff are knowledgeable about children's
individual dietary requirements. They supervise children closely and take steps to cut up
food to help minimise the risk of choking. Children develop their independence soundly,
such as older children serving their own meals and pouring their own drinks.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders have created a curriculum which reflects high expectations for children's
achievements and which helps to build on their learning over time. Staff know how to use
activities to promote children's learning across all areas. For example, staff plan activities to
support toddlers' understanding of sizes and counting, such as using model animals. Staff
working with older children add more animals to promote further learning.
Staff support children's language skills securely, including introducing new words through
activities. They use some signing with children to help support their understanding further.
They encourage children to be respectful of others through clear expectations for behaviour.
Staff promote children's emotional wellbeing through having a warm, caring approach and
supporting their awareness of being respectful and kind to others. Children develop their
small and large physical skills well. For instance, babies use low-level furniture to pull
themselves up on. This helps to develop their core muscles and encourages walking skills.
Overall, staff provide interactions and teaching that support children well, and some staff
have higher quality teaching skills. At times, some staff do not match resources or their
teaching to children's individual abilities. For example, some younger pre-school children
find it difficult to use a knife and fork to eat their lunch. Not all staff extend children's learning
as well as possible. For instance, staff sometimes ask pre-school children questions that do
not encourage them to think more critically.
Staff know their key children's learning needs securely, including those with special
educational needs and/or disabilities. They observe and assess children's learning and track
their progress. They use focused assessments such as those to identify children's
communication and language development. This enables them to respond promptly to help
close any gaps in children's development.
Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders and staff liaise with external professionals as required and gain information from
parents to help them know and understand how best to support children's needs. There is
effective liaison with parents of children with additional needs and children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities.

Staff observe, assess and monitor children's learning closely. This helps them to identify any
gaps in children's development and progress and take steps to close these. Staff are
supported through training and team meetings to recognise and respond to any
developmental concerns about children's learning and progress. They use specific
assessments, such as for children's language development, to enable them to quickly
identify and respond to any emerging concerns. They understand how to refer children to
relevant outside professionals and use funding to ensure children receive the support they
need.
Staff provide well-considered support to children who speak English as an additional
language. They learn key words in home languages to use with children, provide visual
timetables and use signing and gestures to support communication alongside English. Staff
provide activities and resources that reflect children's individual backgrounds, such as books
in other languages. This helps to value and include all children securely.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Staff speak positively about the nursery leaders and the support they receive. They say their
wellbeing is supported effectively and they report that their workloads are manageable. Staff
have access to a range of training and professional development opportunities. For
example, staff identify how training develops their skills, such as the teaching of phonics and
how it supports their key children's individual needs. Leaders ensure staff have access to
training to help them support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities,
those with behaviour needs and those who speak English as an additional language. This
helps to tailor training to children's and staff's needs.
Overall, leaders understand the quality of their setting securely. They take steps to monitor
the quality of staff's practice and the provision to help develop and improve the children's
and parents' experiences. Sometimes the monitoring of staff's practice is not sufficiently
precise to ensure there is a highly impactful effect, to help raise the overall quality further.
The provider has failed to notify Ofsted and provide information about changes of directors
in a timely manner, which is an offence. However, this has now been rectified.
Leaders and staff form effective partnerships with parents and communicate effectively with
them. An online app has recently been introduced to share information between the nursery
and parents. This includes information about children's learning at home and the setting.
Parents comment positively about the introduction of the app and their communication with
staff during daily handovers.

What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children are happy and settled. They form close bonds with the caring staff and feel safe
and secure with them. Staff are responsive to children and provide reassurance, such as
cuddles. They support new children sensitively, particularly those who need extra support on
arrival. The settling-in processes help new children, such as babies, to settle quickly.
Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's learning. They recognise the
importance of children's regular attendance to help support this. Typically, children's
individual learning needs are known well, including those with additional needs. All children
make the progress they are capable of, which helps them to become ready for the next
stage in learning.
Children develop their confidence well. Staff provide positive praise and encouragement.
They regularly explain to children about what they have done well to receive this. Children
learn about what is expected of them, such as through staff reminders to toddlers to use
their 'kind hands'. This helps all children to build relationships to play and learn alongside
each other. Children follow routines and staff's instructions easily, such as to help to tidy up
and to wash their hands. Children develop their independence effectively, including learning
to manage their own self-care needs, such as dressing themselves for outdoor play.
Children enjoy the varied activities on offer and engage with interest in these. For example,
babies explore interactive and sensory resources with interest, which promotes their small
physical skills. Toddlers thoroughly enjoy group activities, including singing songs using
books and toys which reflect these. They show they are learning the words and actions to
the songs. Toddlers are keen to take part and ask for songs to be sung again. Pre-school
children have spontaneous fun together with staff when acting out a story. They recall the
familiar words and phrases from the book.
Next steps
Leaders should ensure that staff's practice is monitored and supported more precisely to
help develop consistent and fully embedded highly effective teaching and interactions to
support children's needs.
Leaders should support staff to recognise children's individual learning needs to ensure
teaching, activities and resources match these needs more effectively, to support their
ongoing achievement.
About this inspection
The inspectors spoke with leaders, staff, children, parents, the designated safeguarding lead
and the special educational needs coordinator 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

Inspectors:
Sheena Bankier
Carla Roberts
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2803375
Address:
High Street, Culham
Abingdon
OX14 4NB
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 19/08/2024
Registered person: Oxfordshire Nurseries Limited
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Local authority: Oxfordshire
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 14 January 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
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.

Total number of places
71
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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