Serendipitys Day Nursery and Pre-school

Serendipitys Day Nursery and Pre-school
Unique reference number (URN): EY377210
Address: Cotgrave Futures Building, Candleby Lane, Cotgrave, NOTTINGHAM, Nottinghamshire, NG12
3JG
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 09/06/2008
Registers: EYR, CCR
Registered person: Serendipitys Child Care Services Limited
Inspection report: 14 April 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement

Expected standard
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.
Achievement Expected standard
Generally, children progress well in their development. Babies are supported to learn
positional language through their play. This includes when staff ask them to go up steps and
down slides on apparatus. Babies are supported to develop their balance and strength in
their legs as they pull up to standing to join planned activities at tables. Pre-school children
remember previous learning about the life cycle of a butterfly. They share their knowledge
with staff that caterpillars nibble small holes in a cocoon before they turn into a butterfly.
Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported to close gaps in
their learning. For instance, they develop their language skills through group times and
watching staff's faces when they talk. Others develop their concentration and focus as they
begin to sit with their peers to eat and extend the time they spend at activities.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Overall, leaders and staff manage all children's behaviour in an age-appropriate way. They
use simple language to explain to babies the behaviour they want to see, such as to put
their bottoms down when they sit at the top of a low-level slide. Staff give babies plenty of
praise to help raise their self-esteem and confidence. Toddlers receive stickers from staff for
positive behaviour, such as when they help to sweep the floor and clean tables. Staff
support pre-school children to learn rules and boundaries, such as to use their hands kindly
and to walk indoors. This helps children to understand behavioural expectations, develop
positive relationships with others and learn how to promote their safety. Adaptations are
made by staff to meet children's individual behavioural needs.
Leaders understand and share with parents the importance of children attending regularly,
such as to build relationships with staff and their peers and providing consistency for
children in preparation for their move on to school.

Generally, children show that they understand routines staff implement during the day.
However, sometimes, staff do not support pre-school children outdoors as effectively as
indoors to help tidy away toys. Furthermore, staff do not give toddlers clear instructions
about when they want them to tidy away toys. This is confusing for children.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
When children first start attending and move rooms in the nursery, they visit at certain times
of the day. This helps them to become familiar with staff and the environment gradually. For
instance, children visit firstly to play with toys and resources and then extend this as they
attend during meal and sleep times. This helps to promote children's emotional wellbeing
when they face changes.
Leaders and staff offer children a balanced diet, offering regular meals, snacks and drinks
during the day to promote their health. Information about foods children are offered is
provided for parents, so they know what their children are eating. This includes sharing
menus and providing information about individual children's eating habits on an online app.
If children face barriers to their wellbeing and welfare, such as individual dietary or medical
needs, staff work with parents to help them meet these.
Staff provide children with a safe environment, asking them to help to maintain this. Children
take responsibility for helping staff to clean tables. Children learn aspects of how they can
keep themselves safe. Staff ask children about what they need to do when food is hot.
Children reply they need to blow on it. Staff carry out fire evacuation drills with children,
helping them to understand how to evacuate the building safely.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
On the whole, children progress well from their starting points in learning. This includes
children who face barriers to their learning. Leaders and staff identify a curriculum to support
children's communication and language skills and independence. Overall, they do this well.
However, sometimes, the implementation of the curriculum design to support all children to
develop their early speaking skills is not consistent. For example, not all staff's interactions
during some daily routines reflect leaders' expectations to communicate to babies.
Staff's teaching includes modelling how to complete tasks for children to copy. For instance,
babies copy staff to stack and build towers, supporting their hand–eye coordination and
concentration. Staff plan activities that enable all children to follow their interests, such as in
insects. For instance, toddlers are offered experiences to see different insects and develop
their imagination and creative skills when they make pretend insects using dough. Pre-
school children learn about the life cycle of bees and caterpillars.
Staff provide experiences for children to develop their physical skills. Babies kick balls back
to staff to help develop their balance and coordination. Staff plan music activities where they
help children explore how to move their bodies in different ways. Pre-school children climb
on tyres outdoors, supporting their balance and coordination.

Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders support staff to continuously build on their knowledge of how to meet children's
individual needs. This results in staff supporting children with special educational needs
and/or disabilities well. The early identification of children's emerging needs helps staff to
recognise how to support children. They identify and implement targeted plans that are
tailored to each child's needs. These are reviewed regularly to assess the impact the
support is having and are developed to meet children's changing needs. This individual
support helps children to progress in their development.
Additional funding that some children receive is spent appropriately. This includes providing
one-to-one support from staff to offer children individual help to meet their targets.
Furthermore, resources are purchased to help children manage their behaviour.
On the whole, children receive support to reduce any barriers to their learning. However,
staff do not help all children to learn about their families' cultures and traditions to help them
understand about similarities and differences between themselves and others.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders and staff keep parents informed about their children's care and learning well.
Parents access an online app where they can see activities children engage in, their next
steps in learning, care routines and how they can continue to support their children's
learning at home. This includes receiving advice from staff to support their children's toileting
habits and to manage their behaviour.
Leaders have made recent improvements in the nursery due to having a higher intake of
babies attending. The changes include moving rooms around to provide babies with more
space and easier access to outdoor learning. Although leaders reflect on the effectiveness
of the setting well overall, they do not identify some next steps for improvement to build on
children's experiences. For instance, leaders do not identify where staff are not fully
supporting all children to learn about their families' cultures, to embed routines or to
implement a highly effective curriculum to support babies' early speaking skills.
Leaders support staff's practice and wellbeing through, for example, regular meetings to
discuss what they are doing well and how to develop their practice. Regular check-ins with
staff help them to feel supported with their wellbeing. Staff build on their professional
development. They attend training that helps to develop their understanding of how to
support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Furthermore, it helps
staff to plan activities more precisely to support babies' sensory development.
Leaders and staff arrange visits for children to learn about their local community. For
instance, staff take babies to a library where they listen to stories to help them develop a
love of books.

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
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children are greeted warmly by leaders when they arrive. They confidently go to staff for
reassurance and comfort when needed. For instance, babies hold out their arms for staff to
pick them up. Toddlers give staff cuddles before they leave the nursery. Pre-school children
are keen to share their thoughts and views with staff and their peers. These interactions help
children to develop positive social skills and feel safe and secure.
Children's attendance is monitored. If they do not arrive when expected, leaders and staff
contact parents to establish the reasons why. This contributes to promoting children's
welfare.
Overall, children achieve well from their starting points in learning. This includes children
with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Parents work in partnership with staff to
meet children's individual needs, including working with other professionals. Adaptations to
teaching support children to close any gaps in their learning. For instance, when toddlers
need support with their communication skills, staff provide small-group times that focus on
building their speaking skills. Furthermore, some children are invited to sit opposite staff at
group times, enabling them to see staff's faces so they can hear words clearly. Children
experience different ways to make marks to support their physical skills and imagination.
Babies copy staff as they use chalk to make marks on a board. As toddlers listen to music,
they share brushes and paint to make marks on cling film that is wrapped around the legs
on upturned tables. Pre-school children use balloons dipped in paint to make circular marks
on large paper. These activities help children to develop the muscles in their hands in
preparation for early writing when they move on to school. The curriculum is planned to

Inspector:
Hayley Ruane
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY377210
Address:
Cotgrave Futures Building
Candleby Lane, Cotgrave
NOTTINGHAM
Nottinghamshire
NG12 3JG
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 09/06/2008
Registered person: Serendipitys Child Care Services Limited
promote children's independence. Children make choices about activities and resources
they play with. Pre-school children use utensils to serve themselves food at mealtimes.
Next steps
Leaders should strengthen the support for staff to implement the curriculum consistently
to build on children's early speaking skills.
Leaders should further support staff to help all children understand their expectations for
daily routines, such as during tidying-up times.
Leaders should help staff to develop their knowledge of how to identify and implement
support to help children learn about their own and others' cultural differences.
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.

Register(s): EYR, CCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:00 - 18:00
Local authority: Nottinghamshire County Council
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 4
Total number of places
96
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