Ofsted has updated the way nurseries are inspected from 2025, with clearer report cards that show simple grades alongside short explanations of what each setting does well and where it can improve.

Nurseries are now graded on a five-point scale, Exceptional, Strong Standard, Expected Standard, Needs Attention and Urgent Improvement, across key areas such as teaching, early years care, children’s progress, inclusion, leadership, wellbeing, and behaviour.

Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery Chesham’s most recent Ofsted inspection took place in March 2026, confirming that safeguarding standards were fully met and that children are kept safe and feel safe within the setting. The nursery achieved Expected Standard across all six key areas of inspection, reflecting the warm, caring relationships, inclusive practice and strong partnerships with families provided by the team. Parents and carers can read the full Ofsted report here to learn more about the inspectors’ findings.

The key-person system works well, with children forming secure relationships with their key person and the other staff who care for them. Staff demonstrate detailed knowledge of the children in their group, speaking confidently about their interests, preferences and care routines, and work closely with parents of weaning babies so that the foods offered at nursery reflect what has already been introduced at home. Leaders and staff communicate regularly with parents and, where needed, liaise with external professionals to agree plans that create a consistent approach for each child. Children develop growing independence and manage a range of self-care tasks, such as using the ‘nose stations’ to wipe their noses and apply antibacterial gel, and staff help them to understand and manage everyday risks. Robust systems ensure children with allergies or medical needs are supported safely, and children thoroughly enjoy the home-cooked, nutritious meals provided, often asking for more.

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning, make steady progress across all areas of learning, with most demonstrating communication and social skills broadly in line with expectations. Pre-school children show good levels of collaboration, negotiation and turn-taking with their friends, skills that support them as they prepare for their move to school. Leaders’ work with staff is helping to close gaps in children’s learning, and children with SEND make sustained progress alongside their peers, proudly sharing new words they have learned with their parents at collection time. Leaders and staff use sign language effectively from a young age, and children, including those with speech delay and those who speak English as an additional language, confidently use signs and visual prompts to express themselves.

Leaders have high expectations for all children, and staff model kind and caring behaviour, gently reminding children about the importance of being kind to their friends. With babies, staff use clear single words alongside matching signs to support understanding, while older children are helped to consider each other’s feelings, use resources safely and play collaboratively. Staff and children form warm, responsive and trusting bonds, with babies climbing onto the knee of a familiar adult for comfort and older children eagerly looking out for their friends arriving and making plans about what they will play together. Leaders invite parents to visit and talk about their jobs, and organise community events where children showcase their learning through art, music and imaginative play while celebrating different cultures. Children are keen and enthusiastic learners who persevere at tasks and involve their friends in their play, such as inviting them to help stir ‘soup’ in the role-play kitchen.

The curriculum is broad and designed to support all areas of learning, with opportunities available both indoors and outdoors. There are ample opportunities to promote physical development, with space for children to run, jump and balance, and staff use activities such as scooping materials and filling containers to introduce mathematical language like ‘full’ and ‘empty’. Teaching is effective overall, and interactions between staff and children are positive and meaningful. Throughout the day, staff plan group sessions in every room to promote communication and language, with toddlers enjoying singing and acting out familiar songs as they ‘stomp’, ‘walk’ and ‘jump’ through a ‘jungle’. Staff also teach children the rules and boundaries expected of them, helping to maintain a safe and comfortable environment, and leaders continue to support newer staff so that every child can learn at their own pace.

Leaders take a collaborative approach to supporting children and their families, with staff identifying and implementing ways to overcome potential barriers to learning, such as creating quiet, cosy spaces where children can retreat to feel calm and settled. Staff show a sound understanding of individual children’s needs, particularly for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, using observation and assessment to monitor development and identify any gaps in learning. Where needed, additional support is put in place under the watchful eye of leaders, who monitor that these systems are implemented and that progress to close gaps happens. Staff have received training and make effective use of visual cues and sign language to aid children’s communication and understanding. Leaders with responsibility for SEND attend meetings and collaborate with other professionals, such as local authority advisers and health visitors, working closely with staff and parents to ensure a coordinated approach to the support provided.

Leaders have a clear and ambitious vision to support continual improvement and a secure understanding of the setting’s strengths and areas for development. They are currently working with staff to strengthen babies’ care routines and implement a more focused curriculum, developments that have already improved practice since the last inspection with a positive impact evident. Leaders observe staff practice, provide feedback and set targets to support professional development, and staff report that they feel valued and supported by leaders who carefully consider their wellbeing and workload. The curriculum encourages children to become independent and confident, learning through creativity and exploration in the setting’s well-equipped indoor and outdoor environments. Leaders know each child’s family circumstances and understand the local community well, working closely with parents, staff and external professionals to strengthen communication and language teaching, particularly for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning.

Children develop into sociable, confident and inquisitive learners at this vibrant nursery. Warm and affectionate bonds between staff and children are established from the outset, helping children to feel safe and secure. Children show high levels of collaboration as they share ideas and play together, with older children using problem-solving skills to move resources around and build a drum kit, gleefully experimenting with the different sounds they can make. Staff know children well and are keen for them to succeed, showing babies how to roll a ball in the garden and supporting even the youngest children to manage their own self-care, progressing from a spoon to a fork and then to a knife and fork as they move through the rooms. Staff adapt the environment and plan stimulating sensory experiences that every child can access, quickly identifying where children need extra support and working with specialists where necessary. Children use signs from an early age to express their needs, such as signing for ‘more food please’ at lunchtime, helping them to become confident communicators as they continue to develop their spoken English.