Bright Horizons Twickenham Meadway Day Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Managers support staff in fostering a culture of continuous development. This encourages staff to reflect on how they can enhance their practice. Staff are enthusiastic and engage children in age-appropriate conversations. Babies enjoy listening to stories, while older children recall past experiences, such as picnics and birthday celebrations. This helps to develop children's language skills. Staff promote children's positive behaviour effectively. They teach children to use polite words, share and take turns. Children listen well and engage positively in activities. As part of the curriculum, staff have reviewed their mealtime routines to further enhance children's independence skills. This approach works well in enabling children to make decisions about their self-care needs.

Staff provide numerous opportunities for outdoor play, which helps to develop children's physical skills. It also boosts children's confidence in their physical abilities. Even the younger children learn to balance, control their muscles and enjoy running around outside in the fresh air. The older children engage happily in imaginative play, often describing themselves as 'strong' superheroes. All of these activities take place under the close supervision of staff. Staff also teach children how to stay safe during their play. For example, they remind children to give each other space while playing group games to minimise accidents.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Managers are dedicated and continue to build on staff's strong practice. They foster a close partnership with parents and carers and other professionals involved in children's care and education to help close the gaps in their learning. Managers use additional funding to motivate children, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to participate in group activities. As a result, children have longer attention spans and improved language skills.
• Managers express high expectations for all. They maintain positive attitudes which enhance staff's and children's well-being. Staff feel well supported and value the opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills. For instance, some staff have recently gained insights into children's brain development. They have learned how a nurturing learning environment can facilitate children's ongoing progress. This is evident in the nursery, as children show that they feel safe and emotionally secure.
• Staff observe and assess children's learning regularly. This helps them to identify children who may need additional support. Staff also use the information collected to design a varied and ambitious curriculum. However, on occasion, they are not always clear on what they expect children to learn from the planned activities. This means that some activities are not precisely focused on what children need to learn next.
• Inspection report: Bright Horizons Twickenham Meadway Day Nursery and Preschool 2 13 August 2025
• Managers take pride in their staff team and regularly assess their practices. Currently, managers are reviewing their partnership with parents to enhance parental involvement. Additionally, they aim to increase outdoor play opportunities to further develop children's physical and exploratory skills.
• Staff foster strong partnerships with parents and share relevant information about their children's learning. This approach helps parents to feel supported. The consistency between home and the nursery contributes to children's good progress. This includes children who receive additional funding and speak English as an additional language. Parents report that their children are happy, safe and develop well at the nursery. They describe staff as friendly, attentive, caring and genuinely invested in their children.
• Overall, staff have a high regard for children's health. They ensure that children with dietary needs and allergies are well accommodated. Children enjoy healthy snacks and freshly cooked meals. They learn to wash their hands at appropriate times to prevent the spread of germs and infectious illnesses. However, staff do not make good use of opportunities to teach children about the impact of food on their bodies. This does not fully develop children's awareness of growth and development.
• Staff promote children's good behaviour effectively. They create inviting 'cosy corners' for children to help regulate their emotions. Children build positive friendships and engage in cooperative play with one another. Staff consistently offer praise to all children, including the younger ones. For example, they celebrate achievements, such as when younger children successfully walk or reach for toys.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• clarify the learning intentions for planned activities to take more careful account of what children need to learn next
• make more effective use of opportunities to raise children's understanding of the effect that food has on their bodies.
• Inspection report: Bright Horizons Twickenham Meadway Day Nursery and Preschool 3 13 August 2025