Wonderland Day Nursery

Wonderland Day Nursery
Unique reference number (URN): 2758010
Address: St Mary's Centre, Grassmere Close, Felpham, PO22 7NU
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 08/12/2023
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Potter's House Preschool Limited
Inspection report: 14 April 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
Achievement Strong standard
Children make secure and sustained progress from their individual starting points across all
areas of learning of the unique curriculum. From the earliest stages, children build extremely
positive relationships with their friends and staff. Children become confident communicators.
Babies babble away to staff and staff smile and praise their efforts.
Children make choices in their play and confidently help themselves to toys and resources.
Babies successfully climb into a low tray and show determination as they try to unscrew the
lids off bottles. They turn them upside down and listen to the stones inside, showing
impressive concentration skills, before shaking the bottles to make the sound louder.
Children demonstrate excellent independence, resilience and curiosity. Children who face
barriers to their learning are set measurable targets that are regularly reviewed. This helps
them to achieve extremely well and gain key skills necessary to confidently move on to the
next stage in their learning.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard
Staff have excellent expectations for children's behaviour and they are extremely positive
role models. They support children to build friendships with friends. Staff model kindness,
share toys, and guide simple turn-taking. Children watch each other play, before joining in
with them. Children enjoy their time interacting with staff, receiving praise. Children build
warm and responsive relationships with them. Staff listen attentively, show genuine care and
use positive language. This helps children develop confidence and a strong sense of
belonging.
Staff understand that each child develops at their own pace, and they plan activities to
compliment this. They skilfully consider each child's age, stage of development and
individual needs. Staff adapt routines to suit each individual child. For example, they adjust
feeding routines and activities. Overall, staff create a nurturing, inspiring environment where
children feel valued, supported and ready to learn.
Leaders promote good attendance and punctuality by working closely with parents. They
explain why regular attendance matters for children's development. Staff follow up any
unexplained absences without delay, to help keep children safe from harm. Parents and
carers speak of the staff's high-quality care. Children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities are supported through thoughtful adjustments, such as adapted activities, so they
can join in confidently.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Staff provide exceptionally high-quality care that meets all children's individual needs
extremely well. Key persons work closely with parents and carers to adapt children's care to
suit routines, preferences, and stages of development. Staff ensure children who have
special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who face barriers to learning and those

who are known, or previously known to social care receive highly effective additional support
and careful planning. They track children's progress rigorously and act quickly should they
have any concerns. This allows all children to have the same opportunities at the nursery.
Staff support children's physical development through providing safe spaces to move
around, climb, balance and explore. They promote health and wellbeing by following robust
hygiene, safe sleep practices, and healthy feeding routines. Children have regular access to
the outdoor environment, in all weathers. They walk to the beach, dip their toes in the sea
and watch the waves. This helps them to become familiar with their local area and socialise
with a wider group of children.
Staff help children to learn to recognise and express their own emotions. They name
emotions and model consistently calm and nurturing behaviour. This helps them to form
secure attachments. Children feel safe and secure at the highly organised and calm nursery,
because staff know them well. Daily routines for sleeping, weaning, and feeding follow each
child's needs precisely. This helps children feel safe and settled.
Curriculum and teaching Strong standard
Leaders provide a safe and highly stimulating environment where all children feel valued,
confident and happy. The curriculum aims to promote secure, nurturing relationships and a
deeply rooted respect for childhood. It is thoughtfully designed and carefully shaped around
children's interests, alongside a rich variety of cultural events and festivals. Staff accurately
assess children's progress to identify what is working exceptionally well and where they can
further enhance opportunities for learning. Leaders run highly informative workshops for
parents on how to further promote children's learning. This proactive and purposeful
approach means that children make rapid progress across all areas of learning.
Staff understand the vital importance of promoting children's physical, personal, social and
emotional development. Children learn to share, cooperate and manage their own feelings
with increasing independence. Staff support children's language development expertly by
introducing fun singing sessions, musical instruments and engaging in meaningful
communication. They use simple sign language to help all children understand what is being
said. This helps children become highly confident in their speech and communication.
Staff promote mathematical learning well through counting and thought-provoking problem
solving. For example, children sit on the beach and look at different sized stones. Staff
encourage children to observe carefully as they compare the sizes of stones, using
mathematical language such as big and small. Staff know all children extremely well,
including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face
barriers to their learning. They make skilful and highly effective adjustments so that all
children can take part and succeed in their learning.
Inclusion Strong standard
Staff know children very well. They carefully observe them during play to deeply understand
their individual needs. They use these detailed observations along with conversations with
parents and carers to plan high-quality activities that promote each child's unique learning,
development and wellbeing to the highest level. Staff skilfully remove any barriers to

children's learning. For instance, they thoughtfully adapt the daily routine so every child can
engage fully and have their individual needs met, such as spending more time in the outdoor
environment. Leaders and staff work in extremely close partnership with families and
external professionals to fully support children and truly enhance their learning experiences.
This allows children to receive targeted support to help them all fully participate fully in the
curriculum. Leaders have implemented a detailed transition document when working with
other settings children attend. This supportive, inclusive approach helps children feel
confident and extremely valued.
Leaders value staff keeping their knowledge and skills up to date. Recent training on safer
sleeping strengthened their already competent knowledge of how to keep children safe.
Staff are highly experienced in supporting special educational needs and/or disabilities and
they undertake regular training. Leaders are proactive in providing an inclusive environment
in which children receive targeted support. This allows them to thrive and flourish.
Leadership and governance Strong standard
Leaders provide a welcoming nursery where children feel happy, safe and secure. They are
highly proactive in putting children's needs first and place great value on the close
relationships formed with children's parents and carers. Flexible settling-in sessions,
carefully tailored to individual needs, help to put children at ease prior to starting at the
nursery.
Staff provide children with a rich range of experiences, such as visits to the beach and walks
around the local area. These valuable opportunities help to develop children's physical
development. Leaders regularly reflect on what is working exceptionally well, and where
improvements can be made, taking swift action when necessary. Children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning are given
excellent support. Staff work closely with external professionals and follow guidance
carefully to support children and families known, or previously known, to social care. This
ensures that all children get the support they need to thrive.
Leaders manage staff workload carefully and with consideration for wellbeing. Professional
development is a clear priority and staff are able to attend training of their choice to support
the needs of children in their care. Recent training around safer eating has significantly
reinforced staff knowledge and ensures safety at mealtimes.

What it's like to be a child at this setting
Staff prioritise forming strong and secure relationships with children and their families before
they even start at the nursery, visiting children in their own homes. They offer settling-in
sessions tailored to children's individual needs and to the needs of their family. The
enthusiastic and experienced team quickly form strong attachments with children, offering
them a safe and secure environment based around children becoming, confident, resilient
and curious. Staff work directly with their key children and they are happy and show they
feel safe. For example, babies snuggle into staff and smile widely. This demonstrates they
have a secure sense of belonging.
Staff create a language-rich environment, offering children a wealth of experiences, such as
stories, singing and music and movement sessions. Babies show awe and wonder and
concentrate well with their mouths open as they watch staff throw different coloured scarves
into the air and glide down again. All children enjoy their learning, planned around their own
interests and what they need to learn next. Babies clap along to familiar songs and shake
maracas, babbling with excitement. Staff support language development extremely well as
they model language and chat away to children. This helps to develop early language and
communication skills.
Leaders are proactive and engage external professionals promptly to ensure that children
access any additional support they need, reducing any barriers to learning. For instance,
staff use picture cards and sign language to support communication with children. Children
with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive the timely support they need to
make steady progress in their learning. This helps them to thrive and succeed, with the skills
for the next stage in their learning.
Staff are positive role models and have high expectations for children's behaviour. They
work well with parents to explain the importance and benefits of their children attending
regularly.
Next steps
Leaders and those responsible for governance should sustain their work to ensure
continued improvement and high standards. They should focus on creating a
transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of children.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, children and staff 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

Inspector:
Clare Leake
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2758010
Address:
St Mary's Centre
Grassmere Close
Felpham
PO22 7NU
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 08/12/2023
Registered person: Potter's House Preschool Limited
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 09:00 - 17:00
Local authority: West Sussex
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 14 April 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 1
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.

Total number of places
9
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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