URN EY465820 · Inspected 2025-12-10 · Published 2026-02-27 · Inspector: Lois Hulley
ABC Childcare Services Cheshire Ltd Unique reference number (URN): EY465820 Address: Audlem St James' CofE Primary School, Heathfield Road, Audlem, Crewe, Cheshire, CW3 0HH Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 02/07/2013 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: ABC Childcare Services Cheshire Ltd Inspection report: 10 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. Expected standard Needs attention Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard Leaders and practitioners provide an emotionally positive environment. Practitioners create effective friendly and professional relationships with children and their families. Children gain trust in the adults and settle in quickly. Children's attitudes towards their play are positive. For example, they are excited to explore scooping and pouring the winter 'gloop'. Practitioners help children to learn the routines of the setting. For instance, children know that when it is time to go out to play, they must collect their outdoor clothing. The familiar routine helps all children to develop a firm sense of security. Practitioners teach children to be kind and considerate of others and to follow simple rules, such as using 'kind hands' and kind words. Children learn from the adults' positive modelling and behave in age-appropriate ways and know what is expected of them. Practitioners provide praise consistently, which supports children to maintain appropriate behaviours. Leaders ensure that children attend the setting regularly, and they understand the action to be taken should attendance be of concern. Inclusion Expected standard Leaders and practitioners promote inclusion and have high expectations for all children. Practitioners have accessed suitable training to support their work in helping every child feel like they belong. This means they confidently find out about children's stages of development and abilities when they start at the setting. They identify if children have any special educational needs and/or disabilities. For instance, the key person uses specialist assessment tools to clearly identify the children's areas of strength and areas for development. Practitioners work well with external professionals, such as speech and language therapists and physiotherapists, alongside children's parents and/or carers to formulate appropriate next steps. Children's progress is assessed regularly. Specialist equipment is acquired and used appropriately in the setting so that all children are able to access the provision. Achievement Needs attention Children are not typically making progress in all areas of learning. Babies do not develop communication and language skills readily. For example, practitioners do not always remove children's dummies when they no longer need them. This reduces the opportunities for babies to learn to babble. Babies do not always fully engage in their play and learning. This means they get bored and do not learn new actions and words quickly. Older children develop imaginative thinking skills that promote literacy development. For example, they delight in pretending to walk through the Arctic as they imagine seeing polar animals. However, children do not always benefit fully because they are not yet able to screen out other distractions and focus on learning and build connections. Pre-school children learn the sequence of counting numbers, but they do not develop mathematics skills such as knowing how many they have in total. All children make progress in developing age-appropriate independence skills. Children learn how to feed themselves, pour drinks and put their own coats on as they engage in the setting's daily routines. Children make progress in physical development skills, such as pedalling bikes, scooping mud and running in the garden. This helps children gain some of the foundation skills they need for their future learning. Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention Care routines, such as toileting and intimate hygiene, are managed appropriately. This supports children to gain the required personal skills they will need for their eventual move to school. Occasionally, hygiene procedures are not encouraged, for example children do not always wash their hands after wiping their noses. The snacks and baking activities offered by the setting are healthy. Practitioners should further develop how they support children to build an understanding of healthy food choices, including through partnership with parents. Leaders understand the importance of developing children's positive mental health. They promote secure attachments between key persons and babies and children. Key persons know children well and understand their unique family situations. This helps the care to be tailored to each child. Practitioners help children to understand emotions and feelings by sharing relevant storybooks and talking to children about their behaviour. As a result, children are positive and happy. They develop age-appropriate understanding of their feelings. Curriculum and teaching Needs attention The curriculum is not precisely planned. Some areas of learning are not as well promoted as others. Practitioners promote personal development through daily routines. For example, children learn independence skills, but literacy and mathematics are less well planned and taught. Practitioners' support for developing children's language skills is inconsistent. They do not provide effective support during teaching activities to help all children access the learning more effectively. Despite this weakness, physical development is supported appropriately through daily outdoor play. Leaders are in the early stages of identifying the improvements needed in teaching. They have not identified with practitioners what their strengths and areas for development are in relation to teaching. This means that practitioners do not take every opportunity to support learning, especially when in large teaching groups. Not all practitioners know why the activities have been planned and how they will be used to support children's individual learning. Furthermore, leaders have not identified and adequately addressed unhealthy lunch box items. This means children are not learning how to fuel their bodies in a healthy way. Practitioners monitor children's development effectively. They gather information about their abilities and next steps in learning. They complete statutory assessments and ensure parents have had the opportunity to consider them. The curriculum supports children to develop a deeper understanding about their community. Visitors to the setting, such as firefighters, enable children to learn about occupations and keeping safe. Leadership and governance Needs attention There have been significant changes to the leadership and staffing arrangements of the setting since the last inspection. The new managers demonstrate a commitment to offering high-quality education and care. Leaders are making limited assessments of the quality of the setting and are often overly positive about the setting's work. This means they do not identify and understand the setting's weaknesses well enough and do not accurately identify the areas for development. Managers provide practitioners with coaching and training. However, this is not yet closely linked to the practitioners' individual understanding of the curriculum and their skills in teaching. This means that practitioners do not know what they need to do to improve their own personal effectiveness. This impacts negatively on the quality of the education provided. That said, leaders and managers have focused on developing practitioner wellbeing through the period of change. Practitioners report that they feel well supported by their leaders and very much enjoy their work in the setting. 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 happy to attend the nursery. They show they feel safe as they confidently leave their parents and/or carers and join in with the morning activities. Children are eager to begin their play. Practitioners model social behaviours, such as greeting one other with 'good morning' so everyone feels welcomed. Children actively seek out adults to give them hugs and talk to them. Children show they feel safe and content in the setting's care. Children develop their confidence. They engage in self-chosen activities, such as playing with dough, water, sand and 'gloop'. Practitioners readily give praise, for example, they say, 'That's really good tidying up.' This enables children to develop a positive sense of self. Practitioners develop respectful relationships with children. For example, they get down to the children's level and engage in warm, friendly interactions. This helps children to feel valued. Children learn the rules of the setting. During the setting's group-teaching times, children are reminded of the rules. They know that they must be kind to others and put away toys because leaving them out might cause them to trip over. This helps children to learn both what is acceptable and what will help keep them safe. While children enjoy their time in the nursery, there are weaknesses in the management of the setting that impact on children's overall outcomes. Children are not consistently making progress in all areas of learning. Leaders have not ensured that the curriculum is planned precisely enough to make sure learning is sequenced. The organisation of activities does not always meet the needs of children. For example, group teaching is in large groups and is not well supported by practitioners. This means that children do not get the attention they need to stay on track and focus on learning. Teaching is not always well matched to the children's stage of development. For example, some mathematics activities are too far beyond the children's current level of understanding. Children are not always provided with Inspector: Lois Hulley About this setting effective support to help them engage in meaningful learning. The leadership of the setting requires focus to help children develop well for their futures. Next steps To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Childcare register the provider must take the following actions by the assigned date: Action Completion Date support staff to develop the organisation of activities to ensure all children can access the learning opportunities 28/01/2026 improve self-evaluation to ensure all the areas for development are identified and actioned to bring about continuous improvement 28/01/2026 work with parents to ensure children learn about healthy food choices and children's lunch boxes contain only healthy and nutritionally balanced foods 07/01/2026 strengthen performance management systems to identify practitioners' individual development needs to improve the quality of teaching 28/01/2026 About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, managers, practitioners 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 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. Unique reference number (URN): EY465820 Address: Audlem St James' CofE Primary School Heathfield Road Audlem, Crewe Cheshire CW3 0HH Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 02/07/2013 Registered person: ABC Childcare Services Cheshire Ltd Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:45 - 18:00 Local authority: Cheshire East Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 10 December 2025 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 9 Total number of places 39 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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