URN 2842886 · Inspected 2026-05-08 · Published 2026-06-08 · Inspector: Tara Naylor Natasha Jarvis
Cherry Tree Day Nursery (Portsmouth) Limited Unique reference number (URN): 2842886 Address: 319 London Road, PORTSMOUTH, PO2 9HQ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 16/05/2025 Registers: EYR Registered person: Cherry Tree Day Nursery (Portsmouth) 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. Expected standard Achievement Expected standard All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to their learning, make typical progress from their starting points. Children develop the skills they need for later learning, including their eventual move to school. Children are curious, enthusiastic and eager to explore. Babies develop physical skills when they crawl and move around to explore toys and resources staff have set out around the room. Toddlers develop their hand-eye coordination as they connect and build structures. They concentrate and persevere to thread pasta tubes along cotton, to create bracelets they proudly share. Pre-school children explore how to fill and transfer water between watering cans and buckets. The mix and notice the changes that happen as they add water to soil. Children learn how to turns with their friends. They become confident in expressing their ideas with peers in play. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard Leaders and staff establish routines that lay foundations for children's learning from the outset. They promote regular attendance through discussions with parent and carers about the value this for children's learning, care and their friendship groups. This has a positive impact, enabling all children, including those who face barriers to learning, to receive consistency in their routines, relationships and learning experiences. As a result, children settle well and benefit from the continuity that regular attendance provides. Staff use their key-person approach to get to know children. Care practices, such as mealtimes and rest times, are typically embedded into daily routines. Staff use these times to build relationships that help children to feel safe and secure. For instance, staff recognise when younger children need extra reassurance and offer cuddles and close comfort to help them settle into the morning routines. Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They teach children the importance of respecting and valuing each other and are positive role models. Children respond well when asked to complete some tasks, such as tidying away toys. Where children, including those who are older, need gentle reminders about sharing and turn taking, staff use age-appropriate strategies to help children. They give children time to think about and regulate their emotions in positive ways. Children learn that friends have differing needs from themselves and how to value and respond to these kindly. Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard Leaders and staff promote a curriculum that supports healthy bodies and minds across the nursery. Children learn about the benefits of active play and making healthy food choices. For example, at snack times, children are encouraged to try new fruits, helping them to explore different textures and tastes. Older children talk about what they like and dislike, developing confidence in expressing their preferences. Recent staff training on supporting children's mental health has strengthened practice. Older children now learn about their emotions and how to recognise and respond to them. Staff teach simple breathing techniques to help children feel calm. Staff share these strategies with parents and carers so that children can continue developing their emotional regulation at home. Overall, staff help children to learn to take responsibility for their care needs. Babies are supported to feed themselves, while pre-school children take increasing responsibility for their personal toileting needs. They build important self-care skills that prepare them well for school. However, at times, staff working with toddlers complete some self-care tasks for them, rather than teaching them how to do these independently. This means staff do not consistently build children's developing independence and reinforce positive hygiene routines, limiting children's confidence in managing their own care. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Leaders create a broad curriculum for the differing ages and abilities of children across the nursery. They communicate this to staff to ensure that they have the same high expectations. In particular, staff prioritise children's communication and language, health and wellbeing and personal, social and emotional development. They reflect and adapt learning to promote inclusion, so that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning benefit from tailored learning. Staff organise a wide range of learning experiences with key areas of children's development in mind. Staff working with the oldest children motivate them to think and express their ideas. For instance, staff use small-group activities to promote pre-school children's personal skills. Staff teach children about emotions, such as being glad, as children reflect and share their ideas of what makes them glad. However, at times, staff working with older babies and toddlers do not consistently support these younger children to practise speaking. During snack times and play, staff sometimes rely on narrating children's play or asking closed questions. As a result, children often respond non-verbally or with simple one-word answers. This limits opportunities for children to develop and extend their early speaking skills. Inclusion Expected standard Leaders and staff provide children and their families with inclusive practice. They recognise and value the unique backgrounds, cultures and experiences that each child brings. Staff use information gained about children when they first start, to put in place support that is needed from the outset. They are committed to ensuring that all children, particularly those who may face barriers to learning, receive the best possible start to their education. Leaders use additional funding effectively to provide the individual, one-to-one support that some children need. Staff thoughtfully adapt daily routines and activities to meet the wide range of needs within the nursery, including for those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning. Leaders and staff understand the importance of the positive relationships they build with parents and carers. They share information regularly to promote a consistent and shared approach to children's care and learning. This has a positive impact on children's progress. Leaders follow clear processes for accessing additional support for those who need it most, including in preparation for transition to school. Where further support from external agencies is required, leaders and staff act proactively and work closely with other professionals to ensure children typically receive the help they need. Leadership and governance Expected standard Leaders evaluate and reflect on the overall nursery. Following a previous weakness in safeguarding procedures, the provider has reviewed and addressed their understanding of the processes for notifying relevant agencies in a timely manner. This has been addressed, and Ofsted are not taking any further action. Leaders have an accurate understanding of the setting's strengths, particularly in welfare, healthy lifestyles and personal and emotional wellbeing. They have identified clear priorities to continue improving the provision. Decisions are consistently taken in the best interests of children. Leaders work closely with families and external professionals to ensure children who may face barriers to learning and/or wellbeing receive appropriate support. Leaders and staff work well together. Staff say that they feel valued and supported in their roles. The staff team has continued to grow since registration, some staff are new and others new to more senior roles. The support from leaders ensures that staff benefit from the support they need to understand and fulfil their roles. However, leaders recognise the importance of embedding systems for monitoring individual staff's teaching skills so that training and coaching can be more precisely targeted, to promote consistency in teaching across the nursery and promote opportunities to maximise children's learning. Parents and carers speak positively about the setting and the clear communication from leaders. The feedback they shared with inspectors reflects families' trust in the setting and the supportive relationships developed with staff. What it's like to be a child at this setting Children arrive at the nursery happy and confident. They settle into the routines of the day. Staff welcome children, sharing conversations with parents and carers to help children, including the youngest, move to the care of nursery staff. These relationships contribute to reducing barriers to learning for children and contribute to the typical progress children make from their starting points. Children form positive relationships with staff and their peers. They explore their surroundings and quickly engage in play of their choice. They use their imaginations well in role play, such as wrapping up dolls to keep them warm and talking about their experiences at home. Children maintain attention in group activities. They join in with rhymes to learn the days of the week and discuss the weather for the day. Inspectors: Tara Naylor Natasha Jarvis Children enjoy active play outdoors. They coordinate their movements and gain control of their core skills as they climb over and under equipment. Children enjoy learning. Staff use opportunities to build on their knowledge and skills. For instance, as children taken turns in bowling, they work out how many pins they have knocked down and count how many left. This helps to develop their mathematical skills. Children are proud of their achievements and happily show staff what they make, such as the mud pies they create. Children behave very well. There are clear expectations and children receive praise for their positive behaviours. Children get along well with each other and learn how to share equipment. They patiently wait for their turn with toys and resources and actively show their developing self-control. These skills help to prepare children for future learning well. Next steps Leaders should strengthen the monitoring of individual staff's teaching skills to precisely target training and coaching to deepen staff's knowledge of how to consistently maximise children's learning experiences. Leaders should refine the communication and language curriculum to better support staff in embedding language learning into daily routines to more consistently extend children's speaking skills. Leaders should support staff to embed consistent daily practices that help younger children to understand the importance of hygiene and develop the independence needed to manage their own self-care routines. About this inspection The inspectors 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. We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we received about the provider. The provider will be able to give parents further information about this. About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2842886 Address: 319 London Road PORTSMOUTH PO2 9HQ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 16/05/2025 Registered person: Cherry Tree Day Nursery (Portsmouth) Limited Register(s): EYR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00 Local authority: Portsmouth 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 86 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. 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