URN 2793944 · Inspected 2025-12-12 · Published 2026-03-02 · Inspector: Nicola Dickinson
A2Zlearning Centre Unique reference number (URN): 2793944 Address: A 2 Z Learning Centre Ltd, 95 Legrams Lane, Bradford, BD7 1NH Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 27/06/2024 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: A2Z Learning Centre Ltd Inspection report: 12 December 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. Strong standard Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard Leaders provide an inclusive environment in which children's welfare and wellbeing are prioritised. They ensure children play and learn in a safe, hygienic and age-appropriate environment. Leaders ensure children are kept safe during outings. Parents value the nutritional meals that their children enjoy, commenting that they eat a wide variety of foods in nursery that often they do not eat at home. Staff find out children's individual needs from parents when children start in the nursery. Individual care routines, such as for food and sleep, reflect those children enjoy at home. For example, babies sleep in cosy cots where their sleep is monitored. Children demonstrate they feel safe and secure through positive relationships and strong attachments with key staff. Children begin to develop an understanding of the importance of good health and hygiene. Through play and stories, staff support them to understand and manage their emotions. The staff work closely with other professionals to ensure children's individual needs are met, such as accessing early help, and supporting parents to access local community schemes if they need extra help or advice. Leaders help parents and older children to understand the risks of using online media. Inclusion Strong standard Leaders put embracing diversity at the core of the nursery's ethos. Celebrations, such as Christmas, are adapted in partnership with parents to ensure all children are included. Leaders have an in-depth knowledge of their community and the families who use their nursery and out-of-school club. They recognise that children have different starting points and life experiences and strive to minimise the barriers to their learning. For instance, some children speak English as an additional language, have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), or face other barriers. Leaders have considered how they can use additional funding to ensure gaps in children's learning and development close quickly, such as by providing extra staff for children who may need more targeted support. Staff are skilled in using strategies such as visual timetables and objects of reference to help children who struggle to communicate verbally. Leaders work hard to promote community cohesion. They offer play-and-stay sessions for parents and deliver projects within schools, such as community fun days. They guide parents to local community schemes if they need extra help or advice. Families are involved in sports activities with their children. This promotes children's physical development and challenges obesity. Leaders monitor children's progress closely, constantly reviewing the support they need and assessing the impact of any adaptations made. For instance, they have additional staff to support children with SEND. Leaders take prompt action to engage other professionals, and support parents through assessment processes. Expected standard Leadership and governance Strong standard Leaders have a secure understanding of the nursery's strengths and areas for improvement. They have clear priorities for future improvement, such as building better partnerships with schools to ensure they are promoting school readiness as successfully as they can. Leaders are also keen to strengthen partnerships with health professionals and provide more services for children, such as baby massage and yoga. The provision of early years education and care is recent, so ideas are shared and tested by the staff team. Ongoing evaluation explores what works well and what might need to change. Leaders seek the views of parents and carers in their ambitious drive for continual improvement. For example, they ensure all parents can access the information available to them, including those who have barriers to communication. Staff say that their wellbeing is promoted by leaders. Targeted training and opportunities to attain higher qualifications mean staff are building on their knowledge and skills to raise the quality of care and education for children. Leaders' partnership working with other professionals has a positive impact on children and keeps them safe. Achievement Expected standard All children make positive progress and develop a wide range of skills in preparation for the move to school. Parents say their children demonstrate effective communication and mathematical skills through activities such as stories, nursery rhymes and construction. Children develop their social skills and build secure friendships when they learn to play with others, take turns and share. They become independent, such as learning to dress themselves, eating using a knife and fork and managing their self-care. Children use small tools during their play, which helps them to develop muscles in their hands and arms. They practise early writing skills when they use drawing materials. Babies have space to move, crawl and explore. They learn to pull themselves up, cruise and walk. Older children learn to risk assess for themselves during trips into the community, such as walking to the local library and using equipment in the park. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard Leaders work closely with parents to promote children's attendance. They provide additional services, such as helping parents who struggle with travel arrangements. Staff are excellent role models. They work well together as a team and provide a positive environment for children, fostering kindness, care and respect. Overall, children understand the expectations for their behaviour because staff give them age-appropriate guidance and remind them of rules and boundaries. Activities, such as reading 'The Colour Monster' story, help children begin to understand and manage their emotions. Mealtimes are social occasions where staff sit with children and chat to them. Children make choices about what they eat, and staff support their understanding of portion size. Meals provided by the nursery are varied and nutritious. Staff use visual timetables to help children understand the structure of the day. In general, this contributes to their sense of safety and wellbeing. However, daily routines are not always planned well when different age groups are together. At times, toddlers are not sure what is expected of them. They wait too long, which results in them becoming restless. They get out of their chairs and drop cutlery on the floor. Older children who finish their meal quickly get up and leave the table, and staff have to remind them to come and sit down. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Staff use accurate assessments to check that children are meeting their expected milestones and highlight any strengths or gaps in their development. Leaders use the information to identify next steps in children's learning and to plan a broad and sequenced curriculum. In the main, the curriculum is implemented well to support children's positive progress. For example, staff introduce new words, such as giraffe and zebra, during children's play to support their developing vocabulary. Staff working with babies repeat children's sounds and encourage them to babble. This supports positive two-way interactions and helps babies develop their social skills. Staff use visual aids to help children who struggle to communicate using spoken language. Staff teach children the relationship between letters and sounds. Children learn letter sounds and start to blend them into words. Staff introduce early mathematics when they demonstrate positional language, such as underneath and over. They discuss quantity when children fill and empty containers with different materials. On occasions, staff do not fully explore what children already know in order to broaden their thinking and further extend imaginative play, such as finding out how much they already know about dinosaurs. 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 cared for in a clean and safe environment. They are greeted warmly by staff when they come into the nursery. Children are keen to join in play with their peers and enjoy the activities on offer. Staff remind them about being kind, sharing and taking turns. Children learn to manage their feelings and behaviour. They enjoy stories that encourage them to think about what might make them happy or sad. Staff quickly address unwanted behaviour in a patient and calm manner. They give children gentle reminders about rules and boundaries. This helps them to understand what is and is not acceptable behaviour. Children who attend the nursery live in a culturally diverse community. Many speak different languages at home, and staff use their home languages to enhance their developing communication skills. Leaders seek parents' views, and their contributions are used to drive change and improvement. For example, from feedback, leaders have introduced 'All about us' books. These show parents who will be looking after their children and support children's smooth transition into the setting. Children quickly develop strong bonds with attentive staff, who support their sense of belonging. They make choices about their play and independently access resources that support their learning. For instance, babies demonstrate curiosity when they explore sensory materials. Staff introduce them to new words that describe what they are experiencing, such as 'crunchy'. Leaders prioritise children's attendance. For instance, they support parents with travel arrangements when needed to ensure children access their education. All staff have high expectations for children. They complete accurate assessments of children's progress to ensure any gaps are identified early. Leaders are proactive in seeking support from outside agencies when children need additional help with their learning. This means all children make good progress from their starting points. Inspector: Nicola Dickinson About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2793944 Address: A 2 Z Learning Centre Ltd 95 Legrams Lane Bradford BD7 1NH Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 27/06/2024 Registered person: A2Z Learning Centre Ltd Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:30 - 15:30,Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 15:30 - 20:00 Next steps Leaders should support all staff to fully consider what children already know and continually extend their learning to help them make the best possible progress in all areas of learning. Leaders should fully consider the structure and routines of the day at times when toddlers and pre-school children are together, to ensure children always understand what is expected of them, particularly at mealtimes. 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. Local authority: Bradford Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 12 December 2025 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 16 Total number of places 80 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. 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