The Sanctuary Day Nursery Burntwood

The Sanctuary Day Nursery Burntwood
Unique reference number (URN): 2848713
Address: 162 High Street, Chasetown, Burntwood, WS7 3XG
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 25/06/2025
Registers: EYR
Registered person: The Sanctuary Day Nursery Burntwood Limited
Inspection report: 5 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
Achievement Strong standard
Children make consistently rapid progress in development across all areas of their learning.
Babies learn to manage tasks for themselves, such as feeding, as early as they are capable.
They develop a love of books and enjoy snuggling in with staff to share stories and help to
pull tabs and turn the pages. They enjoy singing and begin to move their bodies and sing to
the words in familiar songs.
Outdoors, toddlers use crates with ramps to practise coordination and balance. Staff include
opportunities for children to follow their instructions and learn the sequence to climb the
crate and walk carefully down the ramp using tiny steps. During this game, children organise
turn-taking and know when it is safe for their turn. Through repeated practice, children begin
to manage this task independently. This helps children who need to focus on listening and
understanding instructions to be involved in learning that interests them.
Pre-school children show confidence and are eager to include staff in their games. Children
play cooperatively together and show respect as they listen to each other's suggestions. For
example, when they build a tower, they show positive attitudes to learning and become
inspired, using their imaginations and excitedly sharing their thoughts and ideas. Children
successfully develop the skills and understanding that are beyond typical to prepare them
for the next stages of their learning and the eventual move on to school.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard
There is an embedded culture of respect in the nursery. Staff model respectful behaviours
with each other and with children. All children, including young babies, learn when to use
their good manners. Over time, support from staff is highly effective in helping children begin
to understand their emotions and recognise the emotions of others. Children play
cooperatively together, and staff use supportive strategies that help to resolve minor
disagreements swiftly. Children receive regular and timely praise, with beaming smiles from
staff, for their positive behaviours. This helps them to understand the behaviour that is
expected of them and raises their levels of self-esteem.
Routines throughout the nursery are organised, adapted and embedded consistently to
meet the needs of all children, considering their varied starting points. This supports
children's wellbeing, in particular to help them to know what is happening now and what is
coming next. Staff's teaching during routine tasks is highly impactful. This contributes to
reducing frustrations and incidences of unwanted behaviours. For example, children calmly
carry out tasks for themselves, such as handwashing, dressing and managing their personal
care. As a result, children develop positive attitudes to learning and show high levels of
confidence in their abilities.
Leaders ensure flexibility in the setting to enable children to attend regularly and to ensure
that families receive the support they need. This helps all children, including those in need of

support for their wellbeing and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to
make the most of their time in the setting.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Staff build close relationships with children and use their knowledge of their likes, dislikes
and varied needs to tailor their teaching for each child during play experiences. Babies use
their senses to explore and experience some musical resources. Staff use an effective pace
and tone to introduce new items. For example, they help children hold a beanbag and
demonstrate how it will squeak when they squeeze it. Children and staff gasp and giggle at
the sound. Babies are eager to explore these for themselves.
Staff are kind and nurturing towards children. This helps all children, including those who are
new to the setting, to feel reassured and settle in quickly. The arrangements for children's
transition between rooms are tailored for each child. This ensures that their care and
learning are seamless while they build their relationships with new key persons.
Staff use effective methods to promote healthy routines, for example through discussions
about the healthy foods during mealtimes. They provide consistently regular opportunities
for children to be active, develop their physical skills and understand how to keep
themselves safe. They talk with children about other routines, such as handwashing and
brushing their teeth. This contributes to children's understanding of how to live a healthy
lifestyle.
Curriculum and teaching Strong standard
The setting has designed an extremely ambitious curriculum, which is well sequenced to
build on children's learning over time. The curriculum is fully embedded and shows clear
intentions for what staff want children to achieve, which prepares them for the next stage of
their learning. High focus is placed on supporting children to develop independence in their
self-help tasks. For example, babies receive support to strengthen their core muscles in
preparation for sitting, then crawling to independently explore their environment. Staff adapt
the environments and their teaching to ensure children's learning and wellbeing needs are
met. This includes for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those
who face other barriers to their learning and wellbeing. For example, staff are innovative and
bring the learning outside for those who thrive when involved in physical activity.
Staff use information gained from parents at the start, together with their observations, to
understand where children are developing and to decide what they are ready to learn next.
Time is provided to ensure that children have abundant opportunities to practise and
strengthen the skills they have learned while revisiting activities and experiences. Staff
skilfully support children to develop a deeper knowledge and extend their thinking while
increasing their vocabulary. For example, while painting still life, children describe what they
see, using expressive language and structured sentences. They recall the names of parts of
a flower, saying, 'petal', 'stem' and 'pollen'. Children move on to share what they know and
what bees do with the pollen.

Expected standard
Inclusion Expected standard
Staff and leaders quickly identify children's learning needs. This is because they provide
accurate and regular monitoring of children's progress. Staff liaise effectively with parents
and other professionals, as needed, to ensure that children receive the right help when they
need it. Staff use appropriate methods to work towards developmental targets and share
this information with parents and carers to continue the support at home. Staff are trained
effectively to review children's progress. They share this information with parents and other
agencies involved to benefit the children in preparation for what they are ready to learn.
Close relationships with parents and carers enable staff to make adaptations to the support
and interactions effectively to support children who may be disadvantaged or face barriers to
their learning and/or wellbeing. Staff communicate regularly with parents to enable children
to receive the support they need to feel included and to ensure that practice is tailored and
inclusive for all children to gain the most benefit from their time in the setting.
Additional funding that is received is used to support the developmental needs of those in
receipt of the funding, to help them to develop their skills further. Although this funding has
had a positive impact on these children at this time, leaders do not yet ensure that it is
matched more precisely to meet these individual children's needs.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders make informed decisions about the running of the setting and what they provide
that are in the best interests of all children, including those with special educational needs
and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to their learning and wellbeing.
Leaders ensure that all staff receive the training, support and guidance they need to fulfil
their roles as effectively as possible. They have embedded a strengthened induction
process for new staff, which has helped ensure a strong and cohesive staff team. Leaders
are committed to developing staff to enable them to continue to build on their knowledge
and skills. Mandatory training, such as for first aid and safeguarding, is kept updated to
ensure their knowledge is current. Staff access other appropriate training and guidance and
take ownership of their learning.
Leaders evaluate the provision for children effectively and include parents' views in this
evaluation. Leaders have recently developed new strategies, such as workshops, for
working with parents. However, they have not yet thought about ways that they can use
these workshops to share more information with parents about the developmental stages
that children go through.

What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children are happy and very well settled in the nursery. Those who are new to the setting
build close and trusting relationships with their key person. They receive lots of cuddles and
reassurance, which helps them to feel safe and secure in their care and in the care of
familiar staff. Babies show a strong exploratory impulse. They develop increasing physical
skills because they receive the support needed to crawl and be ready to pull themselves to
standing. The play environment is arranged to provide well for children who are developing
at differing rates.
Children receive the precise support they need from staff to provide for their individual
learning and care needs. All children know the routines of the day, which are adjusted to
meet their needs. They engage in routine tasks that help build on their abilities over time. As
a result, the oldest children have developed excellent self-help skills with the support and
practice they have needed. For example, the oldest children manage toileting and
handwashing with little support, dress themselves and help to tidy away toys.
Children behave exceptionally well. They receive timely praise for their positive actions,
which helps to raise their self-esteem and understanding of the behaviour that is expected of
them. They develop the vocabulary they need to express their wants, needs and feelings
over time. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to
their well-being and learning receive the tailored support they need to ensure they feel
included alongside their peers. As a result, all children enjoy exploring the play
environments and confidently ask for resources that interest them. For example, pre-school
children request to play with a marble run construction set. They work collaboratively
together, taking turns and using their mathematical knowledge and problem-solving skills to
work out the sizes and shapes they need to make their structure taller. They access a jug
and water to pour into their structure to see how the water flows. Children identify where
there is an issue and turn a piece around to help the water flow to the bottom. They jump
and giggle at their success. All children make rapid progress from their starting points. They
develop secure skills and understanding to prepare them for their next stage of learning.
Next steps
Leaders should use additional funding to match the learning needs of individual children
more precisely.
Leaders should continue to build on the strategies to engage parents and share more
detailed information about the developmental stages that children go through.

Inspector:
Suzanne Taylor
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2848713
Address:
162 High Street
Chasetown
Burntwood
WS7 3XG
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 25/06/2025
Registered person: The Sanctuary Day Nursery Burntwood Limited
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Local authority: Staffordshire
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 5 May 2026
Children numbers
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with the leader, the manager, 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.

Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 3
Total number of places
52
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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