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Abbotswood Pre School and Day Nursery

Abbotswood Pre School and Day Nursery is a day nursery in Romsey for children aged 0 to 4, with 117 registered places. Ofsted report card, 4 March 2026: Strong standard in 6 areas; safeguarding standards met.

Cupernham Lane, Romsey, SO51 7LF

Key facts

Type
Day nursery (Full day care) (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Ages
0 to 4 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Registered places
117 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Registered
2 July 2012 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)

Opening hours

Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:45 - 17:45

Source: Ofsted report, inspection on 4 March 2026

Who runs it

Abbotswood Pre School and Day Nursery is run by Abbotswood Day Nursery Limited (Ofsted register).

Latest inspection

  • Inclusion: Strong standard
  • Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard
  • Achievement: Strong standard
  • Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard
  • Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard
  • Leadership and governance: Strong standard
  • Safeguarding standards met

Source: Ofsted, inspection on 4 March 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

What it's like to be a child at this setting

Babies and children happily arrive at the nursery and are welcomed by the nurturing staff. They flourish in this rich learning environment, as they excitedly explore the world around them, showing a zest for learning. Leaders and staff are proactive in identifying any barriers that children face to their learning and wellbeing, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They know children very well and quickly identify any emerging needs, supporting all children to be active and engaged learners.

Children are confident communicators. They delight at exploring an enriching environment that motivates them to try new things and follow their interests, both indoors and outdoors, regardless of the weather. Younger children enjoy exploring the awe-inspiring outside areas and are extremely well supported to develop their physical skills. For example, they are highly motivated to use ropes to pull themselves up the climbing wall and squeal with delight as they come down the slide. Older children thoroughly enjoy taking part in forest school activities, such as learning how to use a saw. Children show how they keep themselves safe, as they confidently talk about the safety rules when using tools.

Babies and children's behaviour is impeccable. They listen attentively and respond with kindness to each other. Children confidently and politely ask one another to share and take turns. Leaders and staff are excellent role models who ensure the children feel valued, treating them with respect and kindness. They use clear narratives and consistent, gentle reminders to fully embed the expectations of the nursery.

Babies and children are well supported when they start at nursery. They have an extensive period of settling, where leaders and staff communicate with parents to find out detailed information about each individual child. Staff are caring and attentive, offering children cuddles and comfort as they need it. As children transition through the nursery, staff ensure the children continue to feel settled and put in place plans to support children's emotional development when needed. Leaders and staff continue to work in partnership with parents, sharing information and supporting families to ensure children maintain positive attendance.

What Ofsted found in each area

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders create a robust culture of inclusion that supports every child. The identification of children's needs is swift and takes place from the moment children start at the nursery. Staff gather a wealth of information from parents. They learn about what children know and can do, their cultures and beliefs, information about their health and any barriers to their learning. They expertly and promptly identify children's individual needs through excellent early identification and assessment systems. Leaders make timely referrals and consistently apply the graduated response with precision, while also working closely with other professionals. Staff monitor and evaluate children's progress rigorously, while working in close partnership with parents. This ensures that targets are focused and help children to make swift progress. This is particularly beneficial to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those who face barriers to their learning.

Leaders' expert knowledge of additional funding that children are entitled to, ensures it is used purposefully, such as securing and providing specialist equipment. This directly supports children to access the environment and fully participate in activities. Furthermore, they provide additional adult support for children and introduce approaches, such as using sign language and targeted programmes to successfully strengthen communication and early language. Leaders frequently review the difference that their spending has on children's opportunities. As a result, children receive the best possible support through a coordinated approach which enables all children to thrive.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders and staff have developed a broad and ambitious curriculum that promotes children's curiosity, exploration and progress across all areas of learning and development. Staff follow children's interests and focus their curriculum to give children 'ready for life' skills. Babies and children have the opportunities to explore the natural world, build friendships with their peers, identify their feelings and talk about their emotions. This has a significantly positive impact on children's physical, personal, social and emotional development.

Staff provide consistently high-quality teaching opportunities that support children's learning, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those that face other barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. They monitor children's progress and identify their next steps in learning accurately, helping children to build knowledge and skills over time. Staff weave mathematical language into activities, such as introducing shapes, counting and differentiating sizes naturally, during children's play. They provide engaging activities. For example, Babies and younger children delight at taking part in singing activities, using musical instruments and making choices for the next nursery rhyme to sing. Older children concentrate listening carefully to instructions, as they plant seeds and learn how to help them grow. Staff ask children appropriate questions to assess what children have learned from the activity. They use visual prompts, sign language and tailored adult support to remove barriers to learning. This results in children developing their confidence, being curious learners and highly effective communicators.

Achievement: Strong standard

All children, including those who face barriers to their learning, make enduring progress from their starting points, enabling children to achieve their full potential. Babies develop their physical skills effectively. They show increasing determination as they move around the environment and begin to pull themselves to standing position, strengthening their core muscles.

Children demonstrate a strong awareness and curiosity about the world around them. Younger children show great imagination when engaging with collecting leaves, adding natural resources to create their own leaf wands and kebabs. They are fascinated by the different textures and describe the colours of the leaves while celebrating what they have made. While older children recall past learning experiences, such as when they went to the nature reserve to collect 'frogspawn'. They use rich and expressive language to describe how the frogspawn became tadpoles. This results in all children consistently achieving at a high level and being well prepared for their next stage in learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Staff create a consistently positive and nurturing environment, where expectations are clear and understood by children. They listen attentively, supporting children to reflect on how their actions affect others. This helps children to develop empathy and emotional awareness. Interactions are calm, sensitive and well judged, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They receive thoughtful encouragement and tailored support, such as using magnifying glasses alongside peers to explore the outdoor environment. Leaders understand the importance of attendance and punctuality. They work with families and offer support, when needed. This helps to ensure children benefit from the setting's routines and learning opportunities.

Children's behaviour is impeccable and they play alongside each other exceptionally well. Staff skilfully guide children to work harmoniously together, using well-pitched questions to check their understanding. This helps to ensure everyone is ready for activities and daily routines. Children demonstrate thoughtful teamwork, coordinating their efforts as they help one another to move the outing's trolley safely and efficiently. They require minimal adult intervention and consistently show high levels of respect, patience and turn taking. Staff remain calm and responsive role models, whose consistent approach supports all children to thrive socially and emotionally within a highly positive learning environment.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Babies and children confidently follow consistent daily routines. They show a keen awareness of good hygiene and demonstrate increasing independence, as they use tissues to wipe their noses and know to wash their hands before mealtimes. Staff support all babies and children appropriately for their developmental stage, teaching children how to serve their own food and feed themselves. They use sociable mealtimes outside to further enhance children's wellbeing and understanding of healthy eating. Staff work in partnership with parents, ensuring careful feeding routines and procedures are followed to manage children's allergy and dietary needs and support babies who are weaning. Children are provided with calm restful spaces to sleep as needed.

Leaders plan extremely supportive transitions for each individual child, so that children settle quickly and develop confidence in their new surroundings. Staff develop nurturing relationships with all children, especially their key children, while working closely with parents. They know the children extremely well and use their knowledge to support children as they transition through the nursery. For example, they share information with other staff, providing children with seamless transitions into their next room. Leaders and staff use their expertise to support children to learn about emotions, which helps them to know how to manage their feelings and build resilience. This enables children to thrive in a calm, safe and nurturing environment.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders have a secure understanding of the nursery's strengths and a clear vision for future improvements. They provide clear direction, guidance and support to staff, giving staff wellbeing an extremely high priority. Staff feel well supported and have regular supervisions, where they discuss professional development, wellbeing and areas for improvement. Leaders invest in the development of staff, giving staff opportunities to access training that enables them to take a lead on areas within the nursery, which staff value.

Leaders design and plan the curriculum so that children's experiences build progressively on what they know and can do. Planning is responsive to children's interests and needs, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. This ensures all children can participate fully and make progress. Leaders continually monitor practice across all areas of the nursery. Observing routines and interactions to check that children are supported, included and appropriately challenged. Leaders and staff work collaboratively with parents and professionals, to reduce barriers to learning and support all children to benefit from consistent high-quality learning experiences. As a result, leaders maintain a purposeful and well-structured provision that supports children's confidence, development and readiness for their next stage of learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

  • Leaders and those responsible for governance should sustain their work to ensure continued improvement and high standards. They should focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are known or previously known to children's social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

Ofsted's words, from the report on the inspection on 4 March 2026. Read the full report on the Ofsted website. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Inspection history

  • 4 March 2026: Full inspection, report card: Strong standard in 6
  • 10 July 2024: Actions after a complaint (report)
  • 2 September 2022: Full inspection, Good (report)
  • 14 February 2018: Full inspection, Good (report)
  • 9 January 2013: Full inspection, Good (report)

Ofsted report cards (England, from November 2025)

Since 10 November 2025 Ofsted has graded nurseries and pre-schools on a report card. There is no single overall grade. Instead, each of six areas gets one of five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement.

The six areas are inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children's welfare and wellbeing; leadership and governance. Safeguarding is judged on its own, as met or not met.

Expected standard means the setting does what Ofsted expects of every setting. Strong standard and Exceptional are above that; Needs attention and Urgent improvement mean Ofsted found things the setting has to put right.

Source: Ofsted reports

Funded childcare hours in England

All 3 and 4 year olds in England can get 15 hours of free childcare a week, for 38 weeks of the year.

Working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years old can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year (Free Childcare for Working Parents), if they meet the earnings rules. You confirm your details every 3 months.

Some 2 year olds can get 15 hours a week when the family gets certain kinds of extra support.

The hours are used at a registered provider that offers them, so ask each nursery how it offers the funded hours.

Source: GOV.UK: Free Childcare for Working Parents, check if you're eligible · GOV.UK: Free childcare and education for 2 to 4 year olds (checked 31 October 2026)

Other nurseries nearby

  • Woodley Pre-School - Day nursery, Romsey SO51 7JT, ages 2 to 4, 24 places, 0.2 miles
    Ofsted, 8 May 2024: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • Bright Horizons Romsey Day Nursery and Preschool - Day nursery, Romsey SO51 0BX, ages 1 to 4, 66 places, 0.5 miles
    Ofsted, 4 July 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • Little Sunlights - Day nursery, Romsey SO51 8ZB, ages 0 to 4, 35 places, 0.9 miles
    Ofsted, 19 September 2025: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • 360 Degree Sports Coaching - Romsey Rapids - Pre-school, Romsey SO51 8AF, 20 places, 0.9 miles
  • Chatterbox Community Pre-School Limited - Day nursery, Romsey SO51 9AD, ages 2 to 4, 26 places, 0.9 miles
    Ofsted, 30 June 2025: Good overall; safeguarding is effective

Schools nearby

Abbotswood Pre School and Day Nursery on the Ofsted website