ACE Early Years

ACE Early Years
Unique reference number (URN): 133481
Address: Burford Road, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, OX7 5DZ
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 29/12/1998
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: The Activities, Childcare and Education Centre Limited
Inspection report: 20 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.

Strong standard
Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Children are delighted to see staff and their friends when they arrive at nursery. They are
starting to show confidence and seek out well-known adults for a cuddle. Relationships
between staff and children are warm, kind and nurturing. Staff know all the children, their
needs and their families very well.
Children are taught by staff to follow positive hygiene practices, such as wiping their noses
and washing their hands. Children are learning to be independent as they pour their own
drinks at snack time and have age-appropriate cups. The key-person system is highly
effective. Children are secure and are confident to ask for help. For example, children ask
staff to help them to dress up as knights. Staff nurture children and encourage them to have
a go themselves before providing help.
Staff know children's routines very well. For example, children with medical needs have
personalised care plans in place. Staff tailor their care practices to closely meet children's
individual needs. They understand the importance of good health, rest and exercise for
children. They actively support children to understand the importance of healthy food
choices. Leaders and staff prioritise the welfare and wellbeing of all the children.
Inclusion Strong standard
Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive superb support.
With the skilled guidance of leaders and managers, staff are particularly effective at
identifying and supporting children with SEND. They expertly use their knowledge of each
child to put personalised strategies in place, which they regularly review. Staff signpost
parents to a range of professionals to support children with SEND. This ensures children get
the specific support they need. Children with SEND, as well as those from families in
challenging situations, succeed alongside their friends.
Leaders source additional funding for some children's specific needs. For example, they use
some additional funding for fortnightly sessions to promote children's physical development
and personal, social and emotional skills. Leaders have introduced these sessions to
support a number of children, including children who may not have access to outdoor play at
home. Staff use funding to purchase carefully selected resources that extend and enhance
children's learning experiences. Staff use a range of strategies gained from training to
monitor progress. These include the use of the 'assess, plan, do, review' cycle, inclusion
monitoring and the local authority communication and language tool. Staff are confident to
draw on further help from a range of professionals to support children with SEND.

Needs attention
Achievement Needs attention
Generally children make progress. However, inconsistencies in teaching mean that children
do not consistently remain engaged with activities and resources. This leads to children
wandering from activity to activity without focus. They move away from planned learning
activities that do not appropriately match their learning needs or capture their interest. That
said, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those known to children's
social care and those who face other barriers to learning achieve well from their starting
points.
Children listen to stories for short periods of time and join in with some singing and rhymes,
but they leave these when they lose interest. This contributes, to a limited extent, to their
communication and language development.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention
Positive behaviour is not consistently modelled by all staff. This is acknowledged by leaders
during discussions, although this is not an area they have identified for improvement.
Leaders are exploring ways to manage unwanted behaviour, such as snatching or not
sharing, as well as how to support children who need to learn the expectations during the
day, such as at tidy-up time. Action to address these aspects of practice is not swift enough
to support children's learning.
Staff do not have high expectations for children's behaviour and attitudes to learning. For
example, staff ask children to tidy up, and when children refuse, staff do not address this. In
addition, the lack of an exciting and ambitious curriculum leads to children not being
engaged. This, in turn, leads to weaknesses in children's behaviour.
Leaders have rigorous systems in place to support children's regular attendance, with
absences followed up routinely. Staff are kind and nurturing and have positive relationships
with all children who attend. They know the importance of embedding a positive
environment.
Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
Leaders' priorities since the last inspection have been to address actions set. Although
leaders are working hard, not all changes and improvements are fully embedded. Leaders
have identified the need to develop and embed their new curriculum. There are still some
differences in practice across the provision, and this means staff are not consistently
providing high-quality interactions with all children to assess what children know and can do.
For instance, staff plan enjoyable experiences, such as painting and dough activities;
however, children do not always participate in purposeful learning, as staff do not engage
children with the planned learning experiences on offer.
Leaders have a clear understanding of the focus on the areas of learning for the younger
children who attend this setting. There is a positive focus on promoting children's early

literacy skills, with books and songs being integral to the day. Children's physical
development is promoted well. For instance, children have opportunities to climb, balance
and run freely outside.
Staff make adaptations to support children who speak English as an additional language,
have special educational needs and/or disabilities or are disadvantaged in other ways. For
example, leaders have identified children who will benefit from fortnightly sessions to
support their personal, social and emotional development.
Leadership and governance Needs attention
Leaders have made changes to meet actions arising from the last inspection. The changes
are yet to have a consistent impact across the setting. Leaders acknowledge that there are
still areas that need improvement, some of which they had not identified prior to the
inspection. There have been changes to staffing, and leaders recognise that recruitment
remains a challenge. Leaders have worked with the local authority, made action plans and
started to embed the new curriculum. Staff have regular supervision meetings with their
manager, and they attend a range of training. Leaders do not target staff training well
enough for it to drive improvement in teaching and staff practice.
Leaders have worked hard to improve the partnerships with parents further. For example,
they have improved communication with parents by enhancing the use of the online app and
face-to-face meetings to share information. Parents comment positively on how staff nurture
their children and families. In addition, leaders have improved how they help parents to
support their children's learning at home.
Leaders work closely with other professionals to provide appropriate support for children.
They ensure that decisions about additional funding, including funding for disadvantaged
children, are targeted on what the children receiving the funding need. All staff feel
supported in their roles. They feel listened to and comment positively on leaders.
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 greeted by warm and nurturing staff. Staff chat with children about the
children's home lives and clearly know children and their families well; for example, they talk
about pets, older siblings and grandparents. Children feel safe and secure and have warm
relationships with staff and their friends. Children are learning some skills to support them
with their independence. They are encouraged to remove outdoor clothes themselves as
they come in from the garden.
Children's safety and welfare are given a high priority. Leaders prioritise children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), those known (or previously known) to
children's social care and those who face barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. Leaders
acknowledge the importance of children, especially these children, attending regularly, and
they have robust procedures to ensure attendance is promoted. For example, staff support
parents in a range of ways when barriers have been identified, such as children being
offered hot lunches or extra sessions to support them.
Adults plan carefully to support children's physical development. Babies safely explore, and
older children gain confidence on bicycles and tricycles. Mealtimes are sociable. Children
adopt respectful eating habits, and staff promote engaging conversations about a balanced
diet.
Staff know the importance of developing all children's communication and language. They
quickly identify children with SEND and those who speak English as an additional language
and use a range of strategies to support these children. All children have opportunities to
sing along to songs and take part in a range of action rhymes.

Inspector:
Amanda Perkin
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 133481
Children do not remain engaged at planned activities. For instance, staff plan experiences
based on children's next steps; however, children do not always participate in purposeful
learning, as they quickly lose interest and do not remain engaged in the planned activity.
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
improve and embed an ambitious education programme
that consistently engages and clearly supports what
individual children need to learn next to build on what
they know and can do
25/03/2026
develop effective systems for support, coaching and
training for staff to ensure they have a full
understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and
that any inconsistencies in practice are swiftly
addressed
25/03/2026
About this inspection
The inspectors spoke with leaders 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.
A quality assurance visit by an additional inspector was carried out at this inspection.

Address:
Burford Road
Chipping Norton
Oxfordshire
OX7 5DZ
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 29/12/1998
Registered person: The Activities, Childcare and Education Centre Limited
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 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 20 November 2025
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 3
Total number of places
40
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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