Westfield Nursery at Queen Mary University of London

Real vegetables in a mud kitchen and citrus fruit in water play gave the July 2024 nursery day a practical, sensory character. Ofsted rated the setting Good at its July 2024 inspection. Its address is Queen Mary Nursery, Middle Hill, Aldershot, GU11 1PL, and its current age range is 3 to 60 months.

The strongest inspection examples involved children exploring materials and using outdoor space. Two improvement points deserve equal attention: conversations needed better adjustment to children's abilities, and parents needed clearer information about learning.

In July 2024, the early years foundation stage took shape through activities built around children's interests and learning needs: pouring coloured water through tubes, exploring cornflour with toy animals and planning pretend menus with vegetables. These examples give parents a concrete picture of learning through handling, experimenting and talking.

Outdoor provision covered the areas of learning as well as indoor activities. A climbing frame gave older children opportunities to practise physical skills, while a chick-hatching project introduced a different experience of the natural world.

In July 2024, planning outdoors also took account of children who preferred to play and learn there. That matters for a child whose interest is more readily caught outside: the outdoor activities addressed the areas of learning too. Additional funding supported improvements to the outdoor environment for children who had no outside space at home. For those families, the nursery's outdoor provision had a practical role beyond the individual activities described.

Staff watched children playing to understand their existing knowledge and abilities. In July 2024, they also encouraged children to keep trying, and children remained involved in activities for extended periods. This adds another useful dimension to the sensory examples: the day included opportunities to sustain an interest and persevere. Water tubes, cornflour and the mud kitchen give concrete starting points for understanding that approach.

The Colour Monster, a book used to explore feelings, connected emotional vocabulary with colour sorting. Children sorted coloured spaghetti into pots associated with different emotions. It made an abstract subject tangible.

At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received good support to progress from their individual starting points.

In July 2024, babies communicated their wishes through sounds and gestures, and staff provided close physical comfort during bottle feeds. Staff also helped children settle small disagreements. These were useful examples of how relationships supported the day.

Staff took time to learn about individual children and their families in July 2024. Babies' requests for more food and their comfort during milk feeds made those relationships visible in everyday care. For parents of a baby, these examples are relevant to how practitioners respond to communication before a child can explain a need in words.

The July 2024 parent support group offered connections between families as well as exchanges with staff. Sharing coping strategies gave parents of children with SEND a way to draw on one another's experience. Updates about individual education plans provided a separate connection to their child's learning. The distinction matters: support between parents and information about an individual child served different purposes, and both featured in the inspection account.

A support group brought together parents of children with SEND to exchange advice and coping strategies. Those parents received updates about individual education plans, although general communication needed more precise learning information. Healthy food, hygiene routines and encouragement to drink water formed part of care at that time.

The nursery is open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 5.30pm. Closures include bank holidays, two weeks during summer and two weeks at Christmas, which families need to factor into childcare planning.

In July 2024, the nursery received funding for free early education for children aged two, three and four.

• Conversations matched to the child. In July 2024, exchanges could be too complex for younger children or insufficiently challenging for older children. On a visit, ask how staff now adapt their questions and explanations.
• Useful learning updates. The July 2024 improvement point concerned the precision of information about progress and next steps. Ask to see how a typical update helps families extend learning at home.
• Holiday cover. Summer and Christmas closures each last two weeks, alongside bank holidays. Families needing continuous weekday care will need to plan around these breaks.

This setting suits families seeking weekday care who value sensory exploration and outdoor learning. The July 2024 examples give its day a recognisable character, while the improvement priorities make the quality of staff conversations and parent updates central points to assess.