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Little Creators Pre School (Denmead)

Little Creators Pre School (Denmead) is a pre-school in Waterlooville for children aged 1 to 4, with 20 registered places. Ofsted report card, 27 April 2026: Strong standard in 4 areas, Expected standard in 2 areas; safeguarding standards met.

Denmead Community Centre, School Lane, Denmead, Waterlooville, PO7 6LU

Key facts

Type
Pre-school (Sessional day care) (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Ages
1 to 4 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Registered places
20 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Registered
27 March 2024 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)

Opening hours

Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday : 08:30 - 16:00

Source: Ofsted report, inspection on 27 April 2026

Latest inspection

  • Inclusion: Strong standard
  • Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard
  • Achievement: Expected 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 27 April 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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

Children are remarkably kind, caring and respectful at this warm and welcoming preschool. Secure established routines and processes ensure that all children are continuously supported to thrive. Children arrive happy to see their friends and to discuss the exciting events they have been to at the weekend. They are eager and interested as they quickly get involved with the different activities set up for them.

Children engage in a wide range of enriching activities. Leaders arrange these precisely to broaden children's experiences and build on their curiosity. For example, staff teach children about growth, decay and life cycles. Children speak with interest as they engage in meaningful conversations about what plants need to help them grow. Children also speak excitedly of their trips to the park and to see farm animals in the fields in the community. Children are interested in their learning and develop broad vocabulary.

Leaders have consistently high expectations for all children in their care and are mindful to support staff to provide teaching that is adapted for all children. For example, staff often recognise how to change activities to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This means that all children benefit from the experiences and teaching provided at the preschool.

What Ofsted found in each area

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders strive to provide a highly inclusive provision for all families. They place high priority on accurately assessing and meeting children's individual needs. When children first start at the setting, staff complete starting point assessments, to gain a deep understanding of what children currently know and can do. Leaders also include parents in this process and collaborate with any professionals that may be involved in children's care or learning, such as speech and language therapists or family support workers for those who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This means that children consistently benefit from a joined-up approach.

Leaders provide additional support to those families who need it, such as those who may be known to social services or children who may be at a disadvantage. Leaders are precise in how they use any additional funding they receive for children, to ensure it is targeted to enhance their educational experiences. Through this continued work, staff and leaders have a demonstrable impact on the outcomes of children with SEND and those who may face any others barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

Leaders support staff with effective, targeted and purposeful training. For example, staff complete SEND training to enhance their understanding of effective strategies and interventions for children. Through training such as this, staff now feel confident to create and implement individual plans for children and share them with other professionals where necessary.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have designed a clear curriculum that is generally ambitious well implemented. Staff know children well and ensure activities are meaningful and exciting. Staff and leaders focus on providing enriching activities that build on children's interests and further develop their curiosity and interest in learning.

Overall, activities and highly engaging and well-adapted to suit the varying ages of the children present. There are some times, for instance, where communication and language activities are not as accurately delivered to support the youngest children at their current stage of learning. Despite this, children engage well as a group and enjoy singing together.

Leaders have identified that the implementation of some areas of the curriculum is less secure. Staff do teach mathematics explicitly, for example they encourage children to count and recognise numbers however, teaching of broader mathematical concepts is less consistent and the sequencing of children's learning is not always clear. Despite this, children generally gain age-appropriate mathematical learning.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children make steady progress in relation to their starting points. Older children become confident communicators and build secure conversation skills as they talk to their friends about their exciting activities at the weekend for instance. Younger children generally gain age-appropriate language skills too as they eagerly copy new words. However, at times, the quality of adult interaction is not consistently effective in fully extending younger children's language and thinking.

Children develop secure independence skills. They happily clear their plates and cups away after snack time and are beginning to master new skills, such as dressing themselves independently. Children also develop the ability to express themselves imaginatively, as they play pretend restaurant and cafe games together.

Children are beginning to develop mathematical skills. However, staff do not always explicitly teach mathematics to increase children's individual learning further. Generally, children have interactions with staff that support their early understanding of numbers, counting and some language related to measure.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders and staff create an environment that is harmonious and where children learn to be highly respectful to those around them. Staff build positive relationships with children. They speak to them kindly about the expectations of their behaviour and model politeness. For example, they say please and thank you during interactions at snack time and encourage children to do the same. Staff recognise how some behavioural expectations might need to be adapted, such as for those who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Children develop consistently positive attitudes to learning. This is because staff are highly involved during activities. For example, staff engage closely with children as they joyfully play outside with jugs at the water wall. Staff offer praise and encouragement and children are proud of their accomplishments as they reach up high to pour out their jugs. Children are resilient and enthusiastic.

Leaders have established a secure approach to attendance. They work closely with parents and share information about the benefits of regular attendance. Leaders also ensure parents understand the importance of punctuality to support children's understanding of routines to prepare them for school.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders have highly secure and effective systems in place that consistently ensure children's welfare and wellbeing. They prioritise and actively cultivate warm, nurturing and responsive relationships with children, ensuring they feel emotionally secure, settled, and ready to learn.

Mealtimes are a highly sociable and purposeful occasion. Children and staff sit together and engage in rich conversation about their busy mornings. Children confidently and proudly talk about what they would like to be when they grow up, such as doctors and hairdressers. Staff skilfully use these interactions to deepen children's understanding of healthy eating and overall good health. Children are increasingly knowledgeable and can confidently identify foods of high nutritional value, such as fruit and vegetables. Staff effectively extend learning by supporting children to understand different ingredients, such as salt and sugar, and how these should be limited to promote a well-balanced diet. As a result, children are mindful and increasingly independent, confidently making healthy choices as they select nutritious items from their lunch boxes.

Care practices are consistently delivered with exceptional care, dignity and respect. Staff ensure that children's privacy is carefully protected during intimate hygiene routines such as nappy changing and wiping younger children's noses. Staff speak warmly and kindly to children, maintaining friendly and reassuring conversations throughout. Children's emotional security is consistently and effectively promoted, ensuring they feel safe, valued and well supported at all times.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders are passionate and enthusiastic, with a clear commitment to providing high-quality experiences for all children. They regularly reflect on the education they provide and work closely with staff to evaluate the setting's strengths and identify areas for further development. Leaders have identified priorities, including continuing to develop the mathematics curriculum.

Leaders have established an ambitious curriculum and are continuing to strengthen how this is implemented consistently across the setting. They are working with staff to develop practice further over time. There is a positive culture of reflection and continuous improvement. Staff say they feel motivated and supported in their roles and are keen to develop their practice. Leaders are mindful of staff wellbeing and have created systems that help to keep workload manageable. Supervision arrangements provide opportunities for staff to reflect on their work and discuss their development.

Leaders provide ongoing professional development that is aligned to the setting's priorities, supporting staff to further develop their knowledge and skills. Leaders place a strong emphasis on building positive relationships with parents. They have reflected on how they share information and have taken steps to further involve parents in children's learning. Parents report that they feel well informed about their child's day through communication with their key person. Leaders also work effectively with schools and community organisations to support children's experiences beyond the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

  • Leaders should continue to develop the teaching of the mathematics curriculum so that it is consistently ambitious and well-sequenced.
  • Leaders should support staff to recognise how group activities can be effectively adapted to provide precise communication and language support for the youngest children.

Ofsted's words, from the report on the inspection on 27 April 2026. Read the full report on the Ofsted website. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Inspection history

  • 27 April 2026: Full inspection, report card: Strong standard in 4, Expected standard in 2

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

  • Ddc Nursery And Preschool - Day nursery, Denmead PO7 6LA, ages 0 to 4, 40 places, 0.5 miles
    Ofsted, 13 October 2022: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • Busy Bee Preschool - Pre-school, Waterlooville PO7 6JU, ages 1 to 4, 40 places, 0.6 miles
    Ofsted, 11 December 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • First Friends Day Nursery - Day nursery, Waterlooville PO7 6PH, ages 0 to 5, 35 places, 0.8 miles
    Ofsted report card, 8 July 2026: Strong standard in 6 areas; safeguarding standards met
  • Denmead Pre-School - Pre-school, Waterlooville PO7 6PW, ages 2 to 4, 0.8 miles
    Ofsted, 14 July 2022: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • ELS Tutoring and Educational Services - Day nursery, Denmead PO7 6BZ, 0.8 miles

Schools nearby

Little Creators Pre School (Denmead) on the Ofsted website