LITTLE BLOOM NURSERY AND PRE-SCHOOL

LITTLE BLOOM NURSERY AND PRE-SCHOOL
Unique reference number (URN): 2860708
Address: ASTRA HOUSE UNIT 4, 86-88 HEADLEY ROAD, READING, BERKSHIRE, RG5 4JE
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 22/09/2025
Registers: EYR
Registered person: LITTLE BLOOM NURSERY AND PRE-SCHOOL LTD
Inspection report: 24 March 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement

Needs attention
Safeguarding standards not met
Leaders do not ensure that there is an open and positive culture around safeguarding. This
puts children at risk of harm. The provider and leaders who hold designated safeguarding
lead (DSL) roles do not have a secure understanding of safeguarding matters. This includes
how to identify and escalate concerns about staff conduct, practice issues or suitability. In
addition, the DSLs demonstrate a weak knowledge and understanding of whistleblowing
procedures. They do not ensure that staff are clear that they can raise concerns and know
they will be acted on.
Children who face barriers to their wellbeing do not receive the support they need to stay
safe or achieve well. Leaders and staff do not ensure they identify or respond to emerging
concerns about children in a timely way. As a result, they fail to work in effective partnership
with other agencies so that families receive support at the earliest opportunity. Additionally,
the lack of robust oversight of recruitment procedures, combined with the failure to offer staff
high-quality induction, training and ongoing support, has led to substantial weaknesses
across the provision. These failures undermine the safeguarding culture and do not ensure
that children are kept 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.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention
Inconsistencies in staff practice mean that policies and procedures to support children's
welfare and wellbeing are not consistently implemented for all children. For example, where
children show reluctance to try certain foods, staff do not always provide tailored strategies
to help them participate fully. As a result, opportunities to encourage independence and
promote positive eating habits are missed.
Although there are inconsistencies across staff practice, suitable relationships are
established between children and staff. Staff develop kind and caring relationships with
children, where they provide reassurance and comfort, particularly for younger children and
babies. Recent changes to sleeping arrangements and the management of children's dietary
needs ensure that safe routines are now followed. This impacts positively on children's
welfare.
Leaders provide healthy and nutritious food that meets the needs of most children. They
follow safer food guidance, including cutting food into appropriately small pieces to reduce
the risk of choking for the youngest children. Staff use mealtimes well to support children's

Urgent improvement
growing independence. They encourage children to serve themselves, use utensils and
manage their own eating as appropriate. However, the same opportunities are not routinely
extended to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They do not
consistently receive the support they need to fully participate in mealtimes or benefit from
the same healthy meal options. Staff show good attention to supervising children at
mealtimes to assure their safety.
Achievement Urgent improvement
Children, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and
disadvantaged backgrounds, do not achieve well from their individual starting points.
Overall, children are not well prepared for the next stage in learning, including their move on
to school. Gaps in learning are not addressed quickly enough and instead widen over time.
Children spend extended periods of time completing repetitive activities that offer little
challenge or opportunity to build on what they already know and can do. They rarely have
opportunities to count or learn mathematical language in their play.
On occasion, children enjoy song or music time delivered by external tutors. However,
outside of these times, children's access to engaging story times or well-planned creative
activities is very limited. Some children benefit from play in the garden. They climb on
balancing equipment and make up games with their friends. However, outdoor play
opportunities are not accessible to all children, and some children do not go outside.
Staff do not implement strategies recommended by external professionals, particularly those
designed to support children's early communication. As a result, children with SEND are not
supported to communicate their needs.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Urgent improvement
Staff are not clear on their expectations when supporting children's behaviour. While
children do not display overtly challenging behaviour, they are largely passive. Children are
mostly left to occupy themselves. They do not benefit from adult-guided experiences that
help them to persevere, show determination or develop resilience when faced with
challenges. As a result, they show limited energy, curiosity or initiative in their learning.
Staff do not consistently implement strategies recommended by other professionals working
with families. Visual timetables are not embedded into the daily routine to support children to
understand the structure of the day or to manage transitions. As a result, children struggle to
move between activities independently and do not understand when it is time to change
tasks. This lack of consistency limits children's ability to develop independence, manage
their own behaviour and engage fully in their learning.
Leaders fail to recognise the significance of gaps in children's attendance and do not act
with urgency to address them. They do not have a strategic approach to improving
attendance or supporting families when concerns arise. Staff are not given guidance or

support to follow up on attendance issues, and opportunities to work with families to improve
engagement are missed. As a result, children miss key learning experiences and struggle to
develop consistent routines. This affects their progress and sense of security within the
setting.
Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement
Leaders have limited oversight of the quality of the curriculum and teaching. They do not
ensure that the curriculum is designed effectively to meet the needs of all children. This
includes adapting activities and teaching to support disadvantaged children and children
with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff do not know children's
learning needs well enough to plan experiences that build on what children already know
and can do. They do not prioritise children's language, communication or mathematical
development so opportunities to extend children's thinking, vocabulary and early numeracy
skills are frequently missed.
Teaching across the setting is inconsistent and often lacks purpose. Staff do not use
assessment effectively to identify children's starting points or next steps, and learning is
largely incidental rather than planned. Activities provide little challenge, which limits
children's engagement and progress. Children wander around the setting or run freely in the
garden, joining in only occasionally. There are few planned activities so opportunities to
develop new skills are limited as much of the day is spent on incidental, unstructured play.
Where support is provided, it is not consistently targeted to meet individual needs,
particularly for children with SEND. This impacts on children's opportunity to benefit from a
broad and inclusive curriculum.
Inclusion Urgent improvement
The provider demonstrates a poor regard for inclusion. It does not ensure that all children,
particularly children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are able to
access a broad range of experiences on an equal basis as their peers. Leaders show a poor
understanding of how the use of additional funding may benefit some families. They are also
unclear which children are in receipt of funding currently. Consequently, funding is not used
for its intended purpose.
Overall, children with SEND are placed at a disadvantage in their learning. Staff, including
those who offer one-to-one support, do not have the necessary training, skills or experience
to fulfil this role well. There is a very limited regard to implementing strategies recommended
by professionals working with children and their families. This includes strategies for children
who have limited communication or social skills. Children who have barriers to
communication are not provided with appropriate alternatives so they can express their
needs. Additionally, children who require additional support with their physical development
do not have the same access to outside play as their friends. There are few opportunities
inside to develop their physical skills also. Children with SEND are not supported to
participate in group activities and do not have the same opportunities as their peers to
develop independence or make choices about their learning.

Leadership and governance Urgent improvement
The provider holds a limited knowledge and understanding of the leadership and
management responsibilities required to run an early years setting effectively. It does not
hold robust oversight of the provision, and lines of accountability are unclear. Plans for
improvement are misplaced and do not identify key weaknesses within the provision. For
example, leaders fail to identify when policies are not followed or when children do not
receive the support they need, including those with special educational needs and/or
disabilities. This has a detrimental impact on the quality of children's experiences and has
led to a number of breaches in the statutory requirements.
The provider fails to ensure that an effective management team that holds the skills and
knowledge required to fulfil its lead roles is in place. Recruitment is not robust, and staff are
not always vetted, trained or supported effectively in their roles. Recent instability in staffing
arrangements has affected staff morale. Staff report their workload is not managed well and
they do not benefit from training specific to the needs of the children they care for. This in
turn has had a direct impact on the quality of children's experiences.
Leaders do not work in effective partnership with other agencies or parents to ensure that
children get the best possible start to their education. Staff's inconsistent application of
guidance from other professionals undermines the effectiveness of external support and
limits children's readiness for the next stage of their education.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Weaknesses in leadership and governance mean that children, particularly children with
special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not benefit from well-planned
learning experiences. Leaders do not hold effective oversight of the curriculum and fail to
provide staff with high-quality professional development. The impact of this is particularly
evident for children with SEND, as their needs are not well understood or planned for. Staff
fail to implement specialist recommendations, which places children at a significant
disadvantage in their education. Some children do not attend regularly enough and therefore
do not have access to their full funding entitlement.
Leaders and staff do not meet children's individual learning needs successfully. They do not
clearly identify what they want children to learn or ensure this is taught in the right order at
the right time. Staff do not have a secure understanding of how to implement a curriculum
and, in the absence of clear guidance, provide experiences that lead to incidental rather
than intentional learning. For example, children enjoy playing in the garden or occasionally

reading stories with staff. However, staff do not use these opportunities to build on what
children already know and can do. While enjoyable for some children, they are not used well
to extend children's thinking or build on their existing knowledge and skills. As a result,
children's learning is largely incidental rather than carefully planned or purposeful. Some
children are not included in activities, particularly those with SEND, and they are not able to
access a full range of learning opportunities. This has a negative impact on children's
wellbeing and the levels of progress they make, particularly their personal and social skills.
Next steps
The provider is not meeting the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Ofsted
intends to take enforcement action.
We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to have taken the
following actions by the assigned date:
Action Completion Date
ensure that staff, including the designated safeguarding
lead (DSL), are secure in their knowledge of
safeguarding matters and are supported and confident
to implement the setting's safeguarding policy and
procedures
06/04/2026
ensure whistleblowing procedures are in place for all
staff to raise concerns about unsafe or poor practice
and that any concerns are taken seriously by the senior
leadership team and acted on
06/04/2026
ensure that people looking after children are suitable
and they have the relevant qualifications, training and
have passed any required checks to fulfil their roles
06/04/2026
maintain records and obtain and share relevant
information with parents and carers, social services and
other professionals working with the children to ensure
the care, health and learning needs of all children,
including children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities (SEND), are met
06/04/2026
take action to ensure that staff provide targeted support
for children with SEND, based on what they need to
learn next, to ensure that gaps in their learning close
promptly and they catch up with their peers.
06/04/2026
To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage the provider must take the
following action by the assigned date:

Inspector:
Melissa Cox
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2860708
Address:
ASTRA HOUSE UNIT 4
86-88 HEADLEY ROAD
READING
BERKSHIRE
RG5 4JE
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 22/09/2025
Registered person: LITTLE BLOOM NURSERY AND PRE-SCHOOL LTD
Action Completion Date
improve the oversight of the curriculum to ensure that
all children, including those with SEND, are provided
with an ambitious curriculum that motivates children
and enables them to make the progress of which they
are capable.
19/05/2026
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with the provider, the quality manager, other leaders, staff 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.
We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we
received about the provider. The provider will be able to give parents further information
about this.

Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:00 - 18:00
Local authority: Wokingham
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 24 March 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
81
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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