Sunshine Day Nursery 2003 LTD

Sunshine Day Nursery 2003 LTD
Unique reference number (URN): EY273928
Address: Clatterfield Gardens, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 0AX
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 12/12/2003
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: Sunshine Day Nursery 2003 Limited
Inspection report: 31 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.

Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Children make progress as a result of the ambitious curriculum and teaching. Children use
their growing vocabulary to express their ideas and ask questions. Youngest children babble
and chatter as they explore the sand. Older children show an impressive use of language to
describe their play and hold meaningful conversations with staff.
Children are developing a range of physical skills. They climb and balance on logs and run
with their friends during games of 'chase'. They manage small tools, such as paintbrushes,
and youngest children make marks with crayons.
Children show a growing awareness of how they feel and how to express their emotions.
They develop a strong sense of self as a result of the secure attachments they form with
staff. Children show curiosity and wonder about the natural world. They use their
mathematical awareness to compare sizes of insects they find under logs and connect this
back to what they already know about insects. These curiosities are generally extended by
staff but they do not always consider how they can sustain children's enquiries to further
extend their knowledge. Leaders are supporting staff to develop this area of their practice.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Children behave very well. Staff act as consistently positive role models which helps
children to develop a secure understanding of the rules. Staff praise children often which
further reinforces the high expectations for behaviour. For example, they say, 'Well done for
sharing with your friends'. As a result, children make positive choices.
Children attend well. Leaders have a clear policy regarding attendance that is shared with
parents and carers. Leaders act promptly but sensitively, regarding any concerns about
children's attendance or punctuality.
Children develop the most wonderful friendships. Outside, they work in small groups as they
build a house with large wooden blocks and act out their favourite stories. Children hug their
friends frequently and laugh together. Older children take care of younger children when
they play together outside. They hold their hands as they try to climb and show patience as
they wait their turn with the wheeled toys.
Leaders have ensured that there is a robust key-person approach. Children are cared for by
staff who know them well and meet their care needs with warmth and sensitivity. These
secure attachments mean that children feel safe and secure and able to confidently express
their needs.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Leaders follow the statutory requirements and understand their responsibilities. The
youngest children benefit from sensitive sleep routines that consider their comfort. Children

enjoy the social mealtimes where they enjoy a range of healthy and nutritious meals. Staff
show the utmost vigilance as children eat, ensuring their safety. Children are beginning to
understand about healthy lifestyles, such as which foods are healthy. They enjoy regular
access to fresh air and physical exercise.
Children typically manage personal hygiene independently. Staff support them while learning
these skills through praise and role modelling. Staff know children and meet their needs
well. Children show that they feel safe and secure. They have developed trusting
relationships with staff who care for them. This supports children to develop friendships with
peers. Children generally enjoy playing games together. They show their developing
imaginations as they make up their own stories.
Children enjoy risk and challenge. They balance on logs with confidence and learn how to
navigate their way across safely. When they fall off, children are keen to start again, showing
great resilience. Staff help children to develop and understanding of a range of emotions.
They discuss these during small-group times and use stories and props, such as emotion
stones. This helps children to connect how they feel with the right emotion and develop the
ability to successfully regulate their behaviour.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders have developed a flexible and ambitious curriculum that meets the growing
curiosity of children. Staff plan activities that support children's interests and next steps in
learning. For example, they provide tools for young children to scoop sand, which supports
them to handle cutlery and feed themselves independently. Staff use their observations of
children and assessments to decide what children need to learn next. Typically, available
learning opportunities support children to make progress across all areas of learning.
Older children explore the garden intently. They roll logs and search for insects such as
spiders and slugs. Staff encourage them to use magnifiers and explain how they make
things look bigger. However, they do not consistently make best use of available resources
to stretch and extend children's knowledge or make the most of opportunities to extend
learning. For example using the insect fossils set out in the garden to broaden children's
knowledge further.
Children develop and sustain meaningful friendships. Staff use clear examples to support
children to regulate their feelings. For example, they help children to recognise when they
feel tired or sad. As a result, children manage their own feelings as well as being aware of
the feelings of others.
Staff embed physical development opportunities into their everyday teaching. Children enjoy
painting on easels as they make large strokes on the paper. They join in with action rhymes
with thorough enjoyment. Children stretch their arms and make smaller movements with
their hands and fingers. They use their developing awareness of number to count the
pretend currant buns and work out how many are left when singing.

Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders have ensured that staff are able to identify when children may be at risk of falling
behind in their learning. They use ongoing assessment and their secure knowledge of
children to recognise when they may require additional support to make progress from their
starting points.
Leaders and staff are aware of the community they serve. They understand any barriers
children may face to their learning, including those who may be disadvantaged or have
special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Typically, staff remove these barriers
to learning. However, sometimes, children who are not fully mobile do not receive support
quickly enough to transition between activities. Also, staff do not consistently adapt teaching
to make their learning easily accessible for example when youngest children are unable to
reach activities, staff do not always recognise this quickly enough to enable full participation.
This means that they do not always experience the full range of learning opportunities on
offer to them.
Leaders have ensured that staff have appropriate training in supporting children with SEND.
This equips them with the knowledge and skill to shape support for children through
effective partnership working. Staff work with other settings and health and education
specialists. They are clear about how they use additional funding to enhance experiences
for children and close gaps in learning. Leaders have recently introduced a language
screening programme to help with early identification of children's speech and language
delays.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders have made changes since the last inspection to improve the provision. They have
used critical reflection to understand what changes needed to be made. This has been
supported through the secure relationship the setting has with the local authority.
Leaders regularly evaluate the provision to recognise and drive any improvements needed.
They recognise the importance of supervision sessions and have implemented a
programme of training that is accessed by all staff. However, oversight is not yet consistent
enough to ensure all areas of the provision are monitored regularly. For example, leaders
have not spent as much time in younger rooms in order to support staff and precisely match
professional development with improvement priorities.
Leaders want the best for children and take active steps to provide a safe and caring
environment where children can make progress. Staff feel supported. Since the last
inspection, leaders have developed the curriculum and teaching to offer more flexibility for
children and support them to learn more in the moment. This has had a positive impact on
the progress children make. Furthermore, leaders have developed routines and transitions
to support children's needs. This means that there is minimal interruption to children's play
and they become deeply engaged in learning.

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 happy and settled at this fun and engaging nursery. They arrive with big smiles
and great enthusiasm. Kind and caring staff welcome them in and settle them down for
breakfast. Children generally explore their environments with curiosity and wonder.
Youngest children explore the sand tray and enjoy balancing small wooden blocks on top
one another. They knock them down and clap their hands with delight. Staff know children
well. They plan activities that support children's interests and enquiries. For example,

Inspector:
Clare Ford
children have opportunities to explore insects and life cycles after they see a butterfly in the
garden.
Children are wonderfully independent. From a young age, they receive encouragement to
manage their needs, including feeding themselves and putting on their shoes. Children with
special educational needs and/or disabilities receive support with personal plans to make
progress from their start points. This is supported by the effective partnership working that
leaders have developed.
Parents and carers are actively involved in their children's learning. Staff share regular
updates about children's progress. They invite parents to share their children's home
experiences to support continuity of learning between home and the nursery. Children show
a sense of belonging. They show immense confidence as they make choices and lead their
own play. For example, children ask staff to play 'What is the time Mr Wolf' after they finish
building their house of bricks. Children flourish in the safe and stimulating outdoor space.
They interact with their natural surroundings in a variety of way. Children benefit from fresh
air and physical play opportunities. Younger children delight in making sounds as they beat
wooden spoons on metal pans. They make marks with coloured chalks and use large
paintbrushes to create broad strokes with water on the board.
Next steps
Leaders should broaden their use of evaluation to ensure a detailed analysis of the
settings strength's and identified priorities that cover all areas of the provision and drive
continuous improvements in the curriculum and quality of teaching.
Leaders should ensure the youngest children, who are not yet fully mobile, can access
the full range of learning opportunities available to them, such as by supporting staff to
organise environments more effectively.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, parents and carers 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.

About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY273928
Address:
Clatterfield Gardens
Westcliff-on-Sea
Essex
SS0 0AX
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 12/12/2003
Registered person: Sunshine Day Nursery 2003 Limited
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:00 - 18:30
Local authority: Southend-on-Sea
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 31 March 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
53
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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