Hungerford Nursery School Centre for Children

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 21 April 2026

Children at Hungerford Nursery settle well into the school day. Staff enthusiastically greet them and foster a genuine sense of excitement. The nursery's values of belonging, resilience, imagination, curiosity, kindness and sustainability are the grounding values that underpin the nurturing ethos. Staff know their key children well. Highly effective relationships with adults ensure children feel a powerful sense of belonging. As a result, children feel safe and attendance is high. A notable feature of this provision is the highly effective manner in which staff foster children’s personal and social development. Children behave well and any minor disagreements are dealt with quickly. Children consistently demonstrate highly positive attitudes to learning. From a young age, children display impressive levels of sustained concentration in their learning. They are naturally polite and keen to help one another and their teachers. During their independent play, children are happy and eager to explore and learn. Children access a broad, stimulating curriculum. The nursery plans in a range of wider opportunities that all children benefit from. This includes visits to the woods to explore the outdoors and learn new skills such as den building. Leaders make sure that children have lots of opportunities every day to build their communication, language and literacy skills. Staff carefully consider each child's individual needs and interests. They adapt activities to ensure that these are reflected in children's play and learning experiences. Reading and high-quality story telling are woven into the day, across the provision. Recent improvements to the curriculum, particularly for early reading and maths means provision is taught effectively. The nursery’s highly inclusive environment enables children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to thrive. For children that experience barriers to their learning, staff adapt the curriculum well. As such, children are achieving well. Leaders’ positive partnerships with families ensure that any barriers to access are removed swiftly. This means children can access their learning successfully and they are well prepared for school.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should continue their work to refine the curriculum to ensure that staff have the information they need to maximise opportunities for high-quality interactions with children and learning throughout the day.
• Leaders should maintain their clear commitment to supporting disadvantaged children while further strengthening processes and systems to enable more effective monitoring of progress and evaluation of the impact of the support provided.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)