Pembroke Park Nursery
Pembroke Park Nursery is a day nursery in Crawley for children aged 2 to 4, with 58 registered places. Ofsted report card, 4 March 2026: Expected standard in 1 area, Needs attention in 5 areas; safeguarding standards met.
Nokes Court, Commonwealth Drive, Crawley, RH10 1AN
Key facts
- Type
- Day nursery (Full day care) (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Ages
- 2 to 4 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Registered places
- 58 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Registered
- 29 January 2016 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Opening hours
Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Source: Ofsted report, inspection on 4 March 2026
Who runs it
Pembroke Park Nursery is run by Pembroke Park Childcare Ltd (Ofsted register).
Latest inspection
- Inclusion: Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention
- Achievement: Needs attention
- Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Needs attention
- Children's welfare and wellbeing: Needs attention
- Leadership and governance: Needs attention
- 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
Although there are always staff present when children are eating, leaders do not ensure staff are deployed effectively so that they can observe all children throughout mealtimes. This means staff may not notice quickly enough if a child begins to choke. Leaders do not ensure that the curriculum is designed effectively enough to teach children the fundamental skills required for future learning. They have not ensured that all staff understand what they want children to learn and how to teach it successfully.
Children arrive happily and engage in play before coming together for group time. Staff read stories to children based on themes, such as how emergency services help us. Children enjoy dancing to music and shaking pom-poms. They smile happily and hold hands with one another. Staff promote children's awareness of staying hydrated and encourage them to drink after physical activity. Children look for their photo and find their own water bottle. Staff understand the children well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are learning English as an additional language. They recognise what is important to the children and their families, who are welcomed into the setting to speak about their traditions and celebrations. Leaders ensure that children learn about all religious festivals.
Outside, children play well together. They enjoy exploring the sand and share resources independently. Children wait happily for their turn. Any minor conflicts are dealt with promptly by staff. Staff count the children as they get ready to go down the slide and when they line up to go outside. This helps introduce children to early mathematics. Children practise their balancing skills and coordination as they persevere using balancing stilts. Older children concentrate as they twist pipe cleaners around pencils, commenting on the colours, such as saying, 'It's green like broccoli.'
What Ofsted found in each area
Inclusion: Expected standard
Leaders understand how to assess children's needs and accurately identify when children might need additional support. They seek advice from other agencies and the local authority and work collaboratively with other professionals so that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully supported. Leaders seek information from parents to help them identify if any additional support is required. Leaders make changes to staff roles and responsibilities where needed to ensure that the arrangements in place support children with SEND effectively. For example, they have recently updated the leadership of the special educational needs provision. They access funding so that eligible children receive their full entitlement and barriers to children's learning are reduced where possible.
Leaders help staff to assess and identify children's next steps in learning and make adaptations so that they are included. For example, staff deploy themselves well so that all children are included in activities and provide additional support for children who may need it during group times. Leaders ensure that children have the necessary support so that their individual needs can be met.
Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention
Leaders plan a curriculum around themes, such as teaching children about people in the community who help us. However, this is not designed to support children to learn across all developmental areas. For example, the intent of activities is not clearly understood by all staff. As a result, activities lack purpose and do not focus on teaching children new skills. Staff do not have the skills to extend children's learning or provide them with information to develop their thinking and knowledge. For instance, staff are supported to understand how to observe children and use their assessments to plan what they want children to learn next. However, this is not consistently implemented in practice. Staff often use basic language with children and describe their play, such as, 'It's a fireman, where does the fireman go?' but they do not provide more extensive opportunities for children to develop new skills.
Children enjoy taking part in a variety of activities, such as moulding play dough, scooping and pouring coloured rice and playing outside. Staff promote basic mathematics. For example, they encourage children to count each other as they line up to go outside and count down from 3 when it is time for snack. Leaders promote inclusion and ensure that all children are involved in activities. They make sure staff are deployed effectively to provide additional supervision and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders also support staff to understand how to observe what children can do so that they can identify when children need additional support.
Achievement: Needs attention
Weaknesses in the curriculum design and its implementation mean that children do not achieve as well as they could. Activities are not consistently designed to provide children with opportunities to practise key skills, such as using scissors to cut shapes for painting or writing their own names. These tasks are often completed by staff rather than the children themselves. In addition, although children engage well with one another and with staff, they do not consistently have opportunities to build on their skills, extend their knowledge or develop their language further. As a result, children's learning does not always reach its full potential, and they do not consistently make the progress of which they are capable.
Despite this, children who face barriers to learning, including those who speak English as an additional language, generally achieve well in their communication and language development. They engage in meaningful, back-and-forth conversations with staff and peers. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported effectively to make progress from their individual starting points, demonstrating that targeted support helps them succeed.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Needs attention
The routine when children stop their play for mealtimes is not smooth, which affects how effectively staff can deploy themselves during this period. For example, children are encouraged to wash their hands before eating and understand this routine well. However, weaknesses in the organisation of this routine mean that staff are focused on supporting children with these tasks rather than supervising them while they eat. Although staff are present, the arrangement reduces opportunities for children to be fully observed during mealtimes.
Children play together well, and staff consistently reinforce rules, such as not throwing sand and not climbing up the slide. Staff provide explanations and adapt how they communicate behaviour expectations for children who may need additional support. This helps meet individual needs effectively. Children practise balancing on low-level beams and seek support from adults when needed, showing delight when they achieve their goals. Leaders monitor children's attendance carefully and follow up with parents and carers if children do not arrive, ensuring that families understand the importance of regular attendance for their child's learning and development.
Children's welfare and wellbeing: Needs attention
Weaknesses in the organisation of mealtimes mean that children are not always supervised closely enough while eating. Although staff are present, they do not consistently position themselves with children at the start of mealtimes. For example, staff focus on supporting children to serve themselves healthy snacks and pour their own drinks from the snack bar, rather than sitting with children as they begin to eat. As a result, staff may not notice quickly if a child starts to choke.
Children's independence is promoted consistently throughout the setting. Staff encourage children to wipe their own noses and dispose of tissues appropriately, helping them to manage their own self-care. Children develop positive relationships with all staff, who know them well and respond to their individual needs. Staff support children to take turns and manage minor conflicts, for instance by helping them share resources and ask permission before taking items from friends. This helps children recognise each other's feelings and develop a secure sense of self. Children demonstrate confidence and trust as they hold each other's hands when approaching new activities, showing growing social and emotional awareness.
Leadership and governance: Needs attention
Leaders are not aware that weaknesses in the routine at mealtimes mean that children are not fully supervised while they eat. Although they have adapted this routine so that not all children sit down at once, this is not implemented consistently. This means that as children sit down and start eating, staff are not able to deploy themselves quickly enough so that they are sitting with children. In addition, they have not fully identified the weaknesses in staff understanding of the curriculum. They acknowledge the curriculum is not ambitious for all children and are keen to take action to address this.
Leaders ensure that arrangements are in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and that staff understand their responsibilities. Staff feel they are well supported by leaders. They have regular discussions about their key children, activities they can provide and access to a range of training courses. Leaders hold regular meetings and provide staff with quizzes to test their knowledge. Staff report that managers are aware of their individual needs and make sure they feel supported to fulfil their role. However, weaknesses in curriculum understanding and routine implementation mean children's learning and safety are not consistently maximised.
What the setting must and should do next
The provider must:
- improve mealtime routines to ensure that staff are consistently deployed to supervise children effectively while they eat (by 25 March 2026)
- ensure that the curriculum is ambitious, challenging and appropriate for all children (by 4 May 2026)
- ensure that the curriculum is implemented effectively and staff are fully aware of the intended learning outcomes of activities (by 4 May 2026)
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
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
- Busy Bees Day Nursery at Crawley - Day nursery, Crawley RH10 1SS, ages 1 to 4, 132 places, 0.3 milesOfsted, 28 April 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- The Outdoors Project West Sussex at Three Bridges Primary School - Pre-school, Crawley RH10 1PD, 0.3 miles
- Kumon Crawley East - Day nursery, Crawley RH10 1LE, 0.4 miles
- Daisychain Day Nursery - Day nursery, Crawley RH10 1LR, ages 0 to 4, 54 places, 0.5 milesOfsted report card, 28 January 2026: Strong standard in 2 areas, Expected standard in 4 areas; safeguarding standards met
- Friary Preschool - Pre-school, Crawley RH10 6HD, ages 2 to 4, 40 places, 0.6 milesOfsted report card, 4 December 2025: Strong standard in 6 areas; safeguarding standards met
Schools nearby
- Three Bridges Primary School - Primary, 0.4 miles
- St Andrew's CofE Primary School - Primary, 0.4 miles
- St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School, Crawley - Primary, 0.5 miles
- Manor Green College - Special, 0.7 miles
- The Oaks Primary School & Nursery - Primary, 0.7 miles