Ofsted record

Little Acorns Preschool

LEIGH-ON-SEA, Essex · URN EY294250

According to Ofsted's inspection on 5 March 2026, Little Acorns Preschool in LEIGH-ON-SEA, Essex was graded on 6 areas of its report card: curriculum and teaching — Strong Standard; achievement — Strong Standard; behaviour and routines — Strong Standard; welfare and wellbeing — Strong Standard; inclusion — Strong Standard; leadership and governance — Strong Standard. Source: Little Bees Nursery Intelligence, from Ofsted's published record.

  1. Inspected 5 March 2026

    6 months ago

    Report card — six areas graded separately.

    Curriculum and teaching Strong Standard
    Achievement Strong Standard
    Behaviour and routines Strong Standard
    Welfare and wellbeing Strong Standard
    Inclusion Strong Standard
    Leadership and governance Strong Standard

    What each grade means

    Each area is judged separately. Expected standard is the bar every provider has to clear, so meeting it is the pass rather than a mediocre result.

    Curriculum and teaching Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Achievement Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Behaviour and routines Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Welfare and wellbeing Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Inclusion Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Leadership and governance Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
  2. Earlier inspections

  3. 10 March 2020 Outstanding
  4. 29 April 2016 Outstanding
  5. 12 May 2011 Outstanding
  6. 15 November 2007 Good
  7. 9 February 2005 Good

On the register

Ofsted URN
EY294250
Provider type
Childcare on Non-Domestic Premises, Sessional day care
Ages
2 to 4
Registered places
26
Registered since
28 September 2004
Local authority
Southend on Sea

LEIGH-ON-SEA, Essex · SS9 3PH. Location from the Ofsted register.

On the Early Years Register and the Compulsory Childcare Register and the Voluntary Childcare Register.

Common questions

When was Little Acorns Preschool last inspected by Ofsted? +

Little Acorns Preschool in LEIGH-ON-SEA, Essex was last inspected on 5 March 2026. That inspection used Ofsted's report card framework, which replaced single-word overall ratings for early years settings in November 2025.

What did Ofsted say about Little Acorns Preschool? +

Ofsted graded 6 areas: curriculum and teaching — Strong Standard; achievement — Strong Standard; behaviour and routines — Strong Standard; welfare and wellbeing — Strong Standard; inclusion — Strong Standard; leadership and governance — Strong Standard. Each area is judged separately, so a setting can be stronger in one than another.

Is "expected standard" a good grade? +

Yes. Expected standard is the bar every provider has to clear, so meeting it is the pass rather than a mediocre result. Strong standard and exceptional sit above it; needs attention and urgent improvement sit below.

What ages does Little Acorns Preschool take? +

Little Acorns Preschool is registered for children aged 2 to 4.

How many children can Little Acorns Preschool take? +

Little Acorns Preschool is registered for up to 26 children at any one time. That is a registration limit, not the number currently attending.

How long has Little Acorns Preschool been registered? +

Little Acorns Preschool has been registered with Ofsted since 28 September 2004. Its unique reference number (URN) is EY294250.

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Inspection and registration information is published by Ofsted and reproduced by Little Bees Nursery Intelligence under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Little Bees is not affiliated with Ofsted. The grade descriptions are our plain-English summaries of where each grade sits against the standard, not Ofsted's own criteria.

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