URN 2744537 · Inspected 2026-02-05 · Published 2026-06-18 · Inspector: Sharon Wilcox
Rainbow Playschool Ltd Unique reference number (URN): 2744537 Address: Salford Priors C E Academy, School Road, Salford Priors, Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 8XD Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 21/08/2023 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Rainbow Playschool Ltd Inspection report: 5 February 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 Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard There is an extremely positive, happy and calm atmosphere in this setting. Leaders create a familiar routine that helps children to feel safe and secure. Children actively join in with all activities, showing sustained interest and concentration. Children develop respectful relationships with staff and their peers. They politely express their wishes and use impeccable manners. Staff skilfully support children to learn the language of emotions and the skills to help them learn to regulate them. This has an extremely positive impact on children's behaviour and interactions with their friends. Staff routinely remind children of the behaviour expectations in the setting. They encourage children to recall them and explain what they mean. Children show a clear understanding of these as they play. They play cooperatively with their friends and kindly offer to help staff and each other. Staff share the setting's positive behaviour management strategies with parents and carers to support children's learning at home. Staff have a positive impact on children's behaviour. They are aware of changes that may affect children, such as the arrival of a new baby in the family. Staff plan the provision around children's interests. They swiftly identify the cause of any unwanted behaviour and sensitively adapt the provision to support children's individual needs. They provide praise and positive reinforcement in the form of verbal praise, stickers and rewards. Children respond positively to this, proudly showing visitors the number of stickers they have. This creates a harmonious atmosphere in the setting. Leaders identify barriers to children's attendance. They share their attendance policy with parents, highlighting the importance of regular attendance for children's future educational success. Achievement Expected standard All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or barriers to their learning, generally make progress in all areas of development. Children become confident talkers in this setting. They express their needs, talk positively about themselves and their families and become increasingly confident participating in small-group conversations. They learn the language of emotions and begin to learn how to regulate them. Children play cooperatively with their peers, supported by staff who model sharing and the language of play. On the whole, children are well prepared for the next stage of their education. They confidently direct their own learning and enthusiastically join in with adult-led activities. They listen, follow instructions appropriately for their age and stage of development and cooperate well with staff and their peers. Generally, children become increasingly independent. However, staff do not always prioritise the development of children's self-care skills as promptly as they could, particularly toilet training. Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard Leaders promote healthy lifestyles. They provide healthy, nutritious snacks and meals that encourage children to explore a variety of food from around the world and develop healthy eating habits. They share the setting's healthy eating policy with parents and recommend healthy lunch box options, discouraging highly processed and unhealthy food. Leaders have a clear understanding of the high levels of poor oral hygiene in the county. They ensure that children only drink water at the setting and are working with the local authority to implement daily toothbrushing in the setting. Nurturing key-person relationships help children develop their emotional wellbeing. Staff encourage children to talk about how they are feeling and learn the language of emotions. Staff are always on hand to diffuse any escalations in children's behaviour. They support children to understand the impact of big emotions and begin to learn how to regulate them in an age-appropriate way. Staff generally support children to become increasingly independent in their self-care. However, this is not always prioritised to ensure all children gain independent self-care skills appropriate for the age and stage of development in a timely manner, particularly toilet training. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Leaders and staff have worked in partnership with the local authority early years team to embed their curriculum since their last inspection. This has had a positive impact on the quality of teaching for all children, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning. Staff understand children's starting points, complete assessments and plan for the next steps in children's learning. Communication and language is a key priority. All staff have completed communication and language training. The impact of this is evident in everyday practice. Staff play alongside children, skilfully modelling the language of play. They share animated stories and songs with children, which develops children's vocabulary. They encourage children to use their voices to express themselves. Staff support children's personal, social and emotional development. They clearly teach children the language of emotions and routinely remind them of the behavioural expectations of the setting. Staff encourage children to recall and explain what these mean. This helps children feel safe and secure and promotes positive relationships. Staff encourage children to try to do things for themselves. However, they do not consistently support all children to become independent in their toileting skills. Staff plan opportunities for children to develop their physical skills. They lead high-energy parachute and music and dance sessions indoors on rainy days to ensure children are physically active. Furthermore, children access the garden and school playground on site and visit the local park to further extend their physical skills. Staff support children's early mathematical skills during play and routine times. Children happily join in with counting songs. They compare size and shape as they build with construction materials, and they count stickers they receive for their achievements and positive behaviour. Inclusion Expected standard Leaders and staff develop trusting relationships with parents and carers. They encourage parents to share concerns about children's development and events in their own lives that may impact children's progress. This enables leaders to have a clear understanding of the barriers children face in their learning and wellbeing and help to support them. Staff share termly reports and 2-year-old children's development reviews with parents. They identify gaps in children's learning and, on the whole, plan interventions to help children to achieve. These interventions have a positive impact on children's development, particularly their communication, language and social skills. Staff work in partnership with parents and the local authority to make referrals to specialist support when needed. Leaders arrange specific training to support children's needs. All children identified with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or other barriers to learning, have individual support plans. Staff plan interventions for their key children. They share these with the staff team, including agency staff. This ensures continuity of care for children. Leaders access additional funding for eligible children. This provides children with nutritious snacks and healthy, balanced cooked meals. Furthermore, leaders purchase toys and resources and arrange targeted staff training to promote further learning for the specific children the funding is allocated for. Leadership and governance Expected standard Leaders have created a happy and supportive team. This has a positive impact on children's experiences. Leaders encourage and support staff to complete additional training to develop their knowledge and skills. They provide opportunities for staff to observe each other, learn from each other's strengths and develop their own practice. This has helped raise the quality of staff's teaching and outcomes for children. Leaders have developed close working partnerships with other settings that children attend. Daily communication diaries between settings ensure continuity of care and learning. Children regularly visit the school on site. They watch Nativity performances, attend sports day and join in with teddy bears' picnics. Teachers from other primary schools in the local area visit the setting to meet children before they start school. This all supports smooth transitions to school. Leaders closely monitor the provision and strive to improve. They realise that they are on a journey and have plans to further improve the setting. This includes increasing the numbers of children attending and recruiting additional staff to enable children to have free-flow access to the outdoor provision. They also have plans to further develop the outdoor space. To further improve the setting, leaders should prioritise and monitor how staff support all children to develop increasing independence in their self-care skills. 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 and families receive a warm welcome from staff. Children happily enter the setting and confidently engage in play with their friends. This shows they feel safe and secure. The Inspector: Sharon Wilcox About this setting atmosphere in the setting is happy and calm. Staff create a familiar routine, which helps children know what to expect next. They use a visual timetable to support this. Children build close bonds with their key persons. Staff create personalised 'happy books' to support children to settle. These books contain photos of important people in children's lives and things that make them happy. Staff work closely with parents and carers to understand children's interests, individual needs and starting points. They complete ongoing assessments and highlight next steps in children's development. They promptly identify children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or barriers to children's learning. Staff use this information to plan the provision. Staff generally make a positive impact on all children's development. They seek help and support by making timely referrals to specialist services when needed. Furthermore, staff promote the importance of good attendance. This all improves outcomes for children and helps build strong foundations for future learning. Children build positive relationships with staff and their peers. They express themselves confidently and play cooperatively with their friends. Older children work together to complete puzzles and talk about teamwork making them happy. Younger children explore sensory painting activities, while older children create observational paintings of flowers. They interact and learn from their older peers, who treat them with kindness and care. Next steps Leaders should prioritise and monitor how staff support all children to develop increasing independence in their self-care skills, particularly toilet training in a timely manner. About this inspection The inspector spoke with the leaders, staff, children, and 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. Unique reference number (URN): 2744537 Address: Salford Priors C E Academy School Road Salford Priors Evesham Worcestershire WR11 8XD Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 21/08/2023 Registered person: Rainbow Playschool Ltd Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00 Local authority: Warwickshire Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 5 February 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 2 to 11 Total number of places 24 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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