URN 2811189 · Inspected 2026-03-10 · Published 2026-05-12 · Inspector: Michelle Latchford
Kids Planet Heywood Unique reference number (URN): 2811189 Address: Kids Planet Day Nursery, Hornby Street, Heywood, OL10 1AA Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 08/10/2024 Registers: EYR Registered person: Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited Inspection report: 10 March 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. Strong standard Expected standard Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard Staff create a remarkably calm atmosphere. They speak quietly and are gentle in their interactions. This slower tempo creates a superbly nurturing and relaxed approach to daily routines and tasks. Children benefit from this tranquil approach to their care as they too are peaceful and composed. To illustrate, gentle music and sensory lights create a serene atmosphere, promoting children's impressive focus and engagement. Children are spirited, happy and enjoy their time spent in this setting. They are greeted each day by friendly and familiar staff, who offer children an enthusiastic welcome. Children show that they feel a strong sense of belonging. They settle immediately and are sharply focused and ready to learn. Leaders maintain a rigorous oversight of children's attendance by routinely tracking and monitoring children's punctuality. Any trends or persistent absences are quickly followed up, to check on children's welfare. Parents are committed to ensure children are present each day because they understand the impact this has on their children's development. Children's behaviour is exemplary. They develop friendships, learn to play cooperatively and take turns. When they encounter disagreements, staff swiftly intervene and help children to negotiate and successfully overcome differences. Staff use a mix of different methods, dictated by age and ability, to communicate expectations. For instance, picture cards and visual timetables are used to explain boundaries to those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Achievement Expected standard Children are curious learners and enjoy their play, often giggling and laughing as they explore. Babies enjoy singing activities, copying sounds and practising their emerging language skills. Children's physical health is very well promoted because they have opportunities to be active every day. They climb and balance on wooden blocks, roll hoops and jump over tyres. Children play chase with peers, running at speed and navigating obstacles with ease. Babies and older children benefit from separate garden spaces that have been specially designed to meet their differing needs. Children enjoy being creative and expressing themselves during painting activities. They squeeze, manipulate and roll dough to make pretend pancakes, extending their fine motor and critical thinking skills. They use paintbrushes to make marks, developing their early writing skills. Books are incredibly important to children, who enjoy reading and stories both outside and inside. They handle books with confidence and talk about their favourite and familiar books with great enthusiasm. Children make all-round progress from their starting points and are well prepared for school, when the time comes. Developing the current programme of teaching for mathematics will further improve children's outcomes in this area. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Staff use assessment effectively to check and monitor what children know and can do. They continually observe children during play and record children's notable achievements in online assessment records. This helps staff to build an accurate picture of children's learning. In turn, staff are well informed about children's skills and gaps in their development. Staff plan activities with clear purpose. This careful planning helps to ensure staff interactions are worthwhile to deepen and extend children's knowledge and skills. Teaching to support communication and language is a notable strength. Staff help children to become confident communicators. They provide ongoing narration, speak clearly, slowly and regularly introduce new words. Babies babble and older children engage in 2-way discussion. Children make steady progress in this area of learning. Children benefit from a broad and balanced curriculum. They experience a range of exciting activities to enthuse and challenge them. In particular, staff plan to support children's physical, language and emotional skills. Regular trips in the local community, such as library visits and farm trips, help to enrich learning experiences even more. Leaders create and review monthly progress reports, from digital online assessment systems, to check that all children are continuing to make steady progress. This monitoring assures leaders that the curriculum design is working well. Children make progress in all areas, however, monitoring has informed leaders that teaching and learning in mathematics is less effective than other areas of development. As such, they have enrolled in an externally accredited mathematics programme to further improve outcomes for children in mathematics. Inclusion Expected standard This setting provides care for children from diverse backgrounds. Their uniqueness is celebrated and each child is fully immersed in this inclusive provision. Staff teach children about different religions and cultures, such as Eid and Ramadan. Wider celebrations, for example Easter and Mother's Day, are also incorporated into the curriculum. Equality is promoted through a broad range of culturally rich activities and play. Everyone is truly included. This is a vibrant community, where every child is supported to thrive. Staff quickly identify children's individual needs. They have an astute awareness of children who are facing barriers to their learning and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff use care plans to help them to deliver purposefully targeted intervention and learning opportunities. In turn, everyone is supported to make progress from their given starting points. Leaders carefully consider the most appropriate use of wider Needs attention funding, such as early years pupil premium, to ensure it has the greatest possible impact on children's development. Links with wider professionals are in place and staff reach out to these experts when needed. For instance, staff receive support from the local authority SEND support advisors, health visitors and educational psychologists. This helps to ensure children receive the support they need and deserve. Leadership and governance Expected standard Leaders have a secure oversight of the strengths and areas to improve. They use a 'vision board' to publish the nursery development plans to ensure goals are visible and collectively understood by leaders, staff and parents alike. They know what they do well and have plans to develop and improve. Leaders show integrity and commitment to quickly address weaknesses, including those identified in hygiene practices and mathematics teaching. Thus, the leadership and governance of this nursery is effective. Partnerships with parents are well established. Parents are often invited into the setting for social events and formal meetings about their children's development. Parents enjoy regular updates through daily discussions and newsletter publications. This open and effective information-sharing helps to ensure that children benefit from a joined-up approach to their care and learning. Staff comment that they enjoy working at the nursery and feel well supported. Their happiness results in a dedicate and motivated staff team, who go above and beyond to offer children suitable care and learning. Staff have access to a convenient online training system to enhance their skills further. Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention Overall, children are kept safe. However, lapses in staff hygiene practises compromise children's welfare. For example, babies are not supported to wash their hands prior to eating finger food. Nappy changing areas are not always cleaned sufficiently, to minimise the risk of cross contamination of germs. These inconsistencies in the implementation of hygiene procedures compromise younger children's health. Leaders have an oversight of the quality of the provision and demonstrate a positive attitude towards rapidly addressing this weakness. Staff teach children about personal safety. This helps children to understand how to manage their own risks and protect themselves. For example, children are supported to balance and climb during outdoor play. Staff successfully teach them to hold tight and navigate with caution. This equips children with the key skills to keep themselves safe. Children clean their teeth every day. This task is made fun and they learn how to manage their oral hygiene from an early age, promoting their health in this area of personal care. Children who attend this setting are safe and secure. Staff are vigilant around the close supervision of children and continually check on their welfare to promote their ongoing safety. What it's like to be a child at this setting This is a happy and nurturing nursery, where all children flourish because they feel settled and safe. Staff invest significant time and effort to establish positive relationships with families from the outset. Parents and children are invited to attend gradual and steady enrolment sessions, to help children feel welcome and foster a sense of belonging from the beginning of placement. Children are confident, settled and self-assured. These personal attributes are a wonderful foundation for children to be curious and enjoy their learning. Children's attendance is consistently high, meaning their learning is uninterrupted. Leaders have designed a coherent and well-sequenced curriculum that builds on children's prior knowledge and learning. The aim of the curriculum is to foster children's love of learning and support them to develop core skills in readiness for school. Routines are flexible to meet children's ever-changing needs. For instance, children who are tired are offered a clean and warm place to rest. Comforters are offered as necessary, illustrating that individual needs are understood and met through personalised care practises. Staff know children well and carefully adapt their interactions to support all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Overall, children are supported to progress from their starting points. However, inconsistencies in the implementation of some hygiene procedures, such as nappy changing and handwashing routines, do not fully support all children to thrive across all areas of their development. Next steps To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage the provider must take the following action by the assigned date: Action Completion Date Inspector: Michelle Latchford About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2811189 Address: Kids Planet Day Nursery Hornby Street Heywood OL10 1AA Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 08/10/2024 Registered person: Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited Register(s): EYR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 17:30 Local authority: Rochdale Action Completion Date leaders must ensure that staff working with the youngest children consistently and rigorously implement health and hygiene procedures, in particular safe nappy changing and handwashing routines 11/06/2026 About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, staff 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. Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 10 March 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 66 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. Piccadilly Gate Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted © Crown copyright 2026 © Crown copyright