The Blue Strawberry Kids Daycare Ltd

The Blue Strawberry Kids Daycare Ltd
Unique reference number (URN): EY376833
Address: 11 - 13 Beaucham Avenue, Leamington Spa, CV32 5RD
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 17/06/2008
Registers: EYR
Registered person: The Blue Strawberry Kids Daycare Ltd
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
Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Morning handovers from parents are clearly shared with all staff. This helps greatly in
meeting children's individual needs. As a result, children settle extremely well and form
close, secure and trusting relationships with their key person and all staff.
Staff provide excellent support to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities
to help them begin to understand their feelings and manage their emotions. This includes
using quiet areas in playrooms and a sensory den. Group time activities are consistent
between all rooms and staff prioritise encouraging children to reflect on what has made
them happy or sad and to explore their emotions further.
Leaders consistently prioritise children's health and wellbeing. Leaders and staff give high
priority to accommodating children's dietary needs, ensuring they are met through an
inclusive, varied and nutritious menu. They diligently check meals and ensure children's
safety. There are robust care practices that are highly effective at keeping children safe.
Staff consistently support children's sleeping and feeding routines, working in partnership
with parents. Children thrive as they enjoy plenty of fresh air and access an inviting outdoor
play area with ample space to run and jump.
Staff encourage children's independence at all times. For instance, children learn from an
early age to pour their own drinks from small jugs. They learn to use the toilet independently
and follow good hygiene procedures, such as washing their hands. In addition, staff
consistently prioritise children's understanding of safety. For example, children are taught
how to handle scissors safely and learn about road safety when walking to the nearby
church hall. These experiences effectively support the development of their confidence and
self-esteem.
Inclusion Strong standard
Leaders and staff show a strong commitment to inclusion and early identification of
additional needs. In the key-person role, staff actively monitor children's development,
including using a communication monitoring tool. This greatly helps staff to identify potential
delays early and respond promptly with suitable support. This approach is very effective in
ensuring children receive support as early as possible.
Leaders and staff excel at supporting children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities, as well as those who face barriers to learning. They work closely with external
professionals, such as speech and language therapists. Staff participate in training initiatives
that help to strengthen their skills, such as training that focuses on children's communication
and language skills. This helps to place a strong emphasis on building children's
communication skills.
Leaders and staff carefully consider how they use additional funding to ensure gaps in
children's learning and development close quickly. For example, they provide story sacks for
use at home to support language development and use inclusion funding to enhance
staffing ratios, where extra support is needed.

Expected standard
Staff involve families in discussions about their child's development and support strategies.
For instance, leaders assist parents in accessing suitable funding and hold regular meetings
to evaluate how the funding supports children's progress. Staff take time to understand each
child's needs, adapt activities accordingly and work closely with families and external
agencies. As a result, the setting consistently removes barriers to children's learning,
ensuring all children make good progress.
Achievement Expected standard
All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who
face other barriers to learning, demonstrate that they understand and follow instructions and
join in routines. They progress well in their learning and development from their starting
points. Children move between rooms with growing confidence and independence, and
continue building on what they know and can do. For example, consolidating the ability to
dress and undress, pour water from a jug and hold cutlery at mealtimes. Children show that
they learn to make choices by choosing who and what they want to play with.
Children feel confident to join in singing songs. They sing along with familiar nursery rhymes
and copy actions. Children listen carefully and learn to communicate their needs clearly.
Older children become increasingly confident in recognising their names on name cards and
the days of the week during registration. Children develop essential skills that prepare them
for the next stage of their learning.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Staff uphold high expectations for children's behaviour. Leaders have provided training to
support staff in this area since the last inspection. Staff encourage children to cooperate and
play nicely with each other during routines and play. As a result, many children display
confidence, curiosity and sustained engagement in activities.
Staff model positive behaviour well. For example, they support children in tidying resources
before mealtimes, participating in group activities and developing independence and social
skills. These approaches help children understand routines and enhance their overall
wellbeing and sense of responsibility. Older children receive clear expectations from staff.
For example, they explain that they want to 'hear singing voices' and for everyone to have
their 'listening ears on'. Staff are generally effective at promoting positive behaviour.
However, staff do not consistently implement these strategies introduced by leaders,
particularly when supporting younger children in sharing resources. In these situations,
strategies to teach turn-taking and patience are not always applied consistently by staff.
Strong partnerships and supportive relationships with parents promote attendance. Staff
work closely with parents who may face challenges to ensure children continue attending
the setting regularly.

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
The curriculum covers all areas of learning effectively. Staff have a good understanding of
what they want children to learn. They understand children's next steps and support children
well throughout their play. Staff use assessments to plan activities that help children build
their learning over time. Generally, interactions are effective, but sometimes inconsistent
across rooms. For example, staff need to provide more focused support for older children
during interactions to maximise opportunities for their learning and improve outcomes.
Staff introduce a range of knowledge and skills during activities. For example, they introduce
early mathematical vocabulary, such as big and small, when children explore flowers in an
imagination tray. Children explore the smell and texture of the flowers and staff model
words, such as 'sticky'. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities using Makaton and visual aids to help them understand and join in. They
introduce stories, rhymes and songs to enhance children's language skills. Staff allow
children plenty of time to respond, which helps to build their self-confidence.
Staff provide many opportunities for children to develop their personal, social and emotional
development. For example, daily group time activities help children to become confident in
expressing their emotions and talking about their feelings. This helps children to develop
confidence and respect each others' views and feelings. In addition they learn to take turns
and listen to their friends.
Staff ensure that children enhance their physical development. Pre-school children learn to
hold scissors and begin snipping paper and squeezing pipettes. Toddlers develop hand
strength as they push pipe cleaners into dough and fill and empty containers in sand play.
Outdoors, a wealth of play equipment helps children develop strength, balance and
coordination skills.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Since the last inspection, there has been a change in leadership. Leaders have been
proactive in making the necessary changes and now have a clear vision for the setting.
Their passion for their roles has had a positive influence on the organisation of the setting.
Leaders now have effective systems in place to monitor the quality of teaching and learning.
This includes regular supervision meetings and more opportunities to enhance their
professional development. There is now a sharp focus on senior staff modelling best
practice and setting personalised goals for the team. This is helping raise teaching quality
and helping leaders identify where staff can improve further. Leaders have also identified
additional staff training, such as developing children's communication skills and supporting
children's understanding and developing visual timetables. This has placed a stronger focus
on children's communication and language skills and developing routines to support
children's positive behaviour. Staff speak highly of the support they receive from leaders.
The support that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those with
barriers to learning, receive is a strength of the setting. Leaders and staff are effective at
working closely with parents and other professionals to support children's care and learning.
This ensures all children make good progress.

Parents appreciate the communication from the setting. They receive regular newsletters
and have daily updates via a messaging app about their child's day. Furthermore, they share
their child's next steps, and parents can share information from home. This helps greatly to
ensure a continuity of care and learning for every child.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Staff greet children and families warmly on arrival. Children are safe and secure and settle
quickly. They develop a sense of belonging through familiar routines and the close
attachments they form with staff. Children's emotional wellbeing is at the forefront of the
curriculum.
Since the last inspection, there has been a clear focus on ensuring routines suit the needs
of all children. For example, staff now support children's understanding of what is about to
happen by consistently using a visual timetable. This helps children to become familiar with
the routine, behave well and show a positive attitude towards their learning.
Children have access to a range of engaging and enjoyable activities. This includes lots of
sensory and creative play. For instance, children celebrate springtime as they create
pictures with sponge stencils and explore the garden's flowers. They also have plenty of
opportunities to use their imagination, such as creating volcanoes and burying treasure
during sand play. Children benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular activities that support
their learning, such as music and movement, phonics based activities and the opportunity to
explore musical instruments.
Staff support children to develop their independence. Babies confidently cruise along
furniture, explore resources freely and engage in activities at their own pace. Older children
learn to wash and dry their hands after using the toilet and confidently turn a water tap to fill
their beakers.
Leaders recognise the importance of encouraging children's regular attendance and have
secure procedures to work with parents to promote this. As a result, children arrive at the
setting on time and have good attendance. Children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities, and those children with emerging needs, make good progress from their starting
points. Leaders and staff work with families and external agencies to provide targeted
interventions for children at risk of falling behind. Consequently, all children are fully included
and well prepared for the next stage of their learning.

Inspectors:
Clare Walton
Anna Makowska
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY376833
Address:
11 - 13 Beaucham Avenue
Leamington Spa
CV32 5RD
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 17/06/2008
Registered person: The Blue Strawberry Kids Daycare Ltd
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Local authority: Warwickshire
Next steps
Leaders should further support staff in consistently raising the quality of staff interactions
across the setting.
Leaders should continue to embed positive behaviour strategies across the nursery to
ensure staff consistently model sharing and turn-taking.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, staff 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.

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
144
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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