URN EY436012 · Inspected 2026-05-08 · Published 2026-06-09 · Inspector: Sonia Panchal Kelly Lane
Partou Cherry Trees Day Nursery & Pre-School Unique reference number (URN): EY436012 Address: 179 Bedford Avenue, SLOUGH, SL1 4RA Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 08/02/2012 Registers: EYR Registered person: Partou UK Limited Inspection report: 8 May 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 Inclusion Strong standard Knowledgeable leaders maintain a clear and accurate overview of the effectiveness of the provision for children who face barriers to their learning. Leaders ensure staff access targeted training that equips them well for their role in supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff swiftly identify gaps in children's development through effective screening tools, regular assessments and ongoing monitoring. They work closely with families to use additional early years funding purposefully, to securely meet children's individual needs and support their family circumstances. For example, leaders have provided resources to help families establish consistent home routines and supported children to feel secure and settled in anticipation of the arrival of younger siblings. For children initially identified as needing additional help to regulate their emotions, leaders and staff work collaboratively with parents and carers, as well as external professionals through carefully planned, step-by-step strategies. Consequently, these children now demonstrate calm and settled behaviour and show an excellent eagerness to learn and explore. Tailored interventions to support children's communication and language are highly effective. Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of how to adapt their teaching to successfully meet the needs of children who speak English as an additional language, who make rapid progress in acquiring language and communicating confidently. The children express their curiosity, ask questions and initiate conversations, such as excitedly talking about going to 'big school' with their friends. This demonstrates that children who face barriers to their learning make substantial progress and are well prepared for their eventual move to school. Achievement Expected standard Children make positive progress in their personal, social and emotional development, alongside their physical skills. Older children learn to move with increasing control and coordination as they confidently climb up and down slides, throw and catch balls and crawl across ladders. Younger children enjoy exploring play dough, using tools to make prints, as well as squeezing, stretching and moulding it in different ways. Experiences such as these help to strengthen the smaller muscles in their hands and support their growing independence for the future. Children respond with excitement and understanding to stories. For example, younger children eagerly select different animal puppets as they appear in the story, saying the names and imitating the sounds they make, while older children join in with repeated phrases. Although children are making typical progress in communication and language, staff do not always provide sufficiently precise support to help children make rapid progress, particularly older children who are already competent and confident speakers. Those children who face barriers to learning quickly build secure and trusting bonds with staff. As a result, they grow in confidence and readily seek out staff when needed. They make rapid progress from their initial starting points, with gaps in their development reducing greatly over time. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard Children typically learn to cooperate well with others through planned opportunities to share and work together. For example, staff encourage children to take turns at finding animal puppets when they appear in a story book. In this way, children learn to work well as a team, demonstrating patience and respect. Staff reinforce kindness to help children learn how to treat others. Children build positive bonds with staff. As a result, children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, listen and respond appropriately to staff's expectations. They quickly become familiar with daily routines, such as independently walking to the bathroom and patiently waiting for their turn to wash their hands before mealtimes. Staff model positive behaviour and regularly praise children's efforts and achievements. This helps children to make appropriate choices and encourages them to persevere and try their best. Leaders work closely with parents and carers to promote children's good attendance and punctuality. Parents understand the procedures to follow when their children are absent. Leaders track children's attendance and promptly follow up any unexplained absences to help ensure children's safety and wellbeing. Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard Leaders and staff support transitions well when children first start, move between rooms and eventually transfer to school. They work with parents and carers to provide flexible settling- in sessions that are tailored to children's individual needs. This helps children feel secure, comfortable and confident moving in the new environment. When children move rooms within the nursery, leaders and staff plan opportunities for children to spend meaningful time with their current and new key person in their future room. They also share information about children's learning and development to support continuity in their care and education. Staff support children's emotional wellbeing. They typically name feelings in the moment, helping children to recognise and understand their emotions. When the youngest children show signs of tiredness, staff are attentive to their needs. Staff offer regular cuddles to help children manage their emotions. Effective care practices are in place. For example, leaders and staff gather information from parents about children's feeding and sleeping routines, and mirror these at the setting to promote consistency and comfort. Although older children know that food makes them 'strong', staff do not typically expand on this knowledge to help children understand the role of different food groups and the impact these have on their bodies. This limits children's ability to make healthy choices, understand why these are important and develop positive habits from an early age. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Leaders have made positive strides since the last inspection in prioritising areas of the curriculum to better meet the needs of children who attend. A sharper focus is placed on developing children's communication and language skills, particularly for the youngest children and those who face barriers to their learning. Overall, planned activities across the setting successfully spark children's curiosity and imagination. For example, staff carefully select focus books and stories, share them regularly with children and use story props to help children recall the key events. Typically, older children benefit from further activities linked to stories, such as designing and making food for the 'Gruffalo'. However, high-quality teaching is not yet consistently embedded across the setting. At times, staff do not fully consider how to build on what individual children already know and can do in order to deepen their understanding and extend learning further. For instance, when children choose what food they want to make with play dough, staff do not consistently encourage them to think critically by discussing ingredients or explaining methods they will use. As a result, opportunities to develop children's thinking are not always effectively recognised or addressed. Leaders and staff place an emphasis on supporting children's personal, social and emotional development, alongside their physical development. Staff regularly comfort and reassure children, particularly those who are new to the setting or still settling in. Leaders adapt the provision to support physical development, despite limited outdoor space, including creating an indoor soft-play area. Staff generally implement an ambitious curriculum for children who face barriers to their learning, helping them develop increasing coordination and body control. For example, when children confidently catch a ball with two hands, skilful staff encourage them to attempt catching with one hand to further their skills. The mathematics curriculum is not taught consistently across the setting. Younger children, in particular, do not benefit sufficiently from opportunities to develop early mathematical concepts, such as hearing and using mathematical language linked to size, shape and number during everyday play experiences. Leadership and governance Expected standard Leaders and staff have worked hard to address the actions identified at the last inspection. They regularly reflect on the quality of care and education. For the most part, leaders identify strengths and areas for improvement , taking appropriate steps to implement change. However, priorities, such as those relating to the delivery of the mathematics curriculum for younger children have not yet been clearly identified. Leaders proactively put in place effective support for children who face barriers to their learning. They work closely in partnership with parents and carers to support their children's needs, which is highly successful for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders support parents to develop an understanding of their children's needs and share strategies to promote learning at home. Individual plans are regularly reviewed and adapted as these children achieve their targets, ensuring continued progress. Staff feel valued and supported by leaders, who ensure they have sufficient time to manage their workload. Staff feel empowered to contribute ideas to enhance the provision. For example, they share suggestions about story choices to further strengthen younger children's communication and language development. Leaders ensure all mandatory training for staff is up to date and routinely monitor staff practice. However, there is not a sharp enough focus on driving consistently high-quality teaching across the setting. Although staff receive a range of training linked to the actions from the last inspection, leaders have not yet fully developed more tailored professional development programmes to address specific gaps in individual staff's practice. What it's like to be a child at this setting Children receive warm welcomes from the staff as they arrive with huge smiles. They separate with ease from their parents and carers and get busy engaging in activities that capture their interest. This reflects children's keen sense of belonging and familiarity with established routines. From the outset, relationships are warm and nurturing and new children settle swiftly, chatting away to their peers and staff by the end of their first day. Effective settling-in procedures, alongside information gathering, enable staff to build close connections with children and their families. As a result, children feel safe, secure and welcomed. A key strength of this setting is the inclusive approach leaders and staff take. Children's individual differences are valued and well understood, alongside a secure knowledge of their family backgrounds and circumstances. For example, children show they are proud of their cultural heritage, such as when they make 'chappatis' from play dough. Staff join in and flip the 'chappati' from hand to hand, showing their evolving knowledge of children's cultural backgrounds. Individual plans for children who face barriers to their learning are carefully tailored to meet their specific needs. The rapid progress made by these children to meet their needs is underpinned by the successful partnership between leaders, staff, parents and external professionals. Overall, the ambitious curriculum provides children with diverse learning experiences. The development of children's communication and language skills, alongside physical skills is given high priority. Children across the setting spend quality time with staff listening attentively to stories. They thoroughly enjoy engaging in the additional activities linked to books, which support their recall of story events and knowledge of characters. For example, babies closely observe and point at pictures, toddlers imitate animal sounds and actions when recognising familiar characters, while older children confidently join in with repeated Inspectors: Sonia Panchal Kelly Lane About this setting Unique reference number (URN): EY436012 Address: 179 Bedford Avenue phrases from the 'Gruffalo' story. Children of all ages independently select books of their choice and enjoy spending time in cosy reading areas, carefully turning pages and examining the illustrations. This demonstrates their developing love for books. There are many opportunities available for children to develop and strengthen their physical skills. They love being outdoors in the fresh air and show equal enthusiasm when practising their climbing skills in the indoor gym. Overall, children make typical progress for their age and stage of development, gaining the knowledge and skills to support them as they move on to school and through life. Leaders and staff have established systems to ensure parents understand the importance of informing the setting when their child is absent. As a result, regular attendance and punctuality are supported well, helping to maintain children's welfare. Next steps Leaders should strengthen support and monitoring to ensure all staff consistently deliver high-quality teaching that accelerates children's progress, particularly in older children's communication and language and younger children's early mathematical development. Leaders should enhance how staff help children to gain experience of a wider variety of healthy foods to help develop lifelong habits that promote their physical health. About this inspection The inspectors spoke with leaders, staff, children, parents and carers 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. SLOUGH SL1 4RA Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 08/02/2012 Registered person: Partou UK Limited Register(s): EYR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00 Local authority: Slough Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 8 May 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 136 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. 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