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Early years · Report card

Little Owls Scunthorpe Ltd

Inspected 27 Jan 2026 · URN 2747050

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Summary

No overall grade in this frameworkSafeguarding met

Andrew Clark

What we read, and from where

Click a reading to see it highlighted in the report.

  • Achievement verified

    Expected standard

  • Behaviour, attitudes and routines verified

    Strong standard

  • Children's welfare and wellbeing verified

    Strong standard

  • Curriculum and teaching verified

    Expected standard

  • Inclusion verified

    Strong standard

  • Leadership and governance verified

    Strong standard

  • Framework verified

    Report card

  • Group verified

    Little Owls (Scunthorpe) Limited

  • Inspection datesingle source

    27 Jan 2026

  • Inspectors verified

    Andrew Clark

  • Postcode verified

    DN17 2JL

  • Name on report verified

    Little Owls Scunthorpe Ltd

  • Safeguarding verified

    Met

  • URN verified

    2747050

Page 1 of 8
Page 1 of the report

Deep dive

What this report says

In plain English

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Grade profile

Each judgement on its scale, weakest to strongest.

  • AchievementExpected
  • Behaviour, attitudes and routinesStrong
  • Children's welfare and wellbeingStrong
  • Curriculum and teachingExpected
  • InclusionStrong
  • Leadership and governanceStrong

Tone of the report

How positive or critical the inspectors' language is, from the words they chose. No AI involved.

+77Very positivemore positive than 58% of reports of this type

In line with other reports of this type.

Praisestrongconfidentpositivestronglyfeel safehigh expectationsvery wellcaring
Criticismweaknessesconcernsinconsistencieslimitedgaps

How the report reads, start to finish

Every paragraph in order, sized by length. Tap one to see it on the page.

FindingsSafeguardingAbout the inspectionLeadershipWhat needs to improve positive critical
  • Findings1113w+88
  • Leadership232w+25
  • Safeguarding51w−11
  • What needs to improve92w+43

Strengths

Quoted from the report. Tap to see it on the page.

Concerns

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No strong criticism found.

Next steps

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What the report dwells on

Topics by how often they come up, coloured by how they are described. Open one for an example.

Anatomy of the report

How the report is built, against others of the same type and grade.

Pages
8
Words of findings
1,488
about usual (typical 1698)
Reading level
Hard
Flesch 40, typical 43
Average sentence
18 words
Next steps
3
typical 3
Hedged sentences
4%
“some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 54%Leadership 11%Safeguarding 2%What needs to improve 5%About the inspection 27%

Full report text

Little Owls Scunthorpe Ltd

Unique reference number (URN): 2747050 Address: Side By Side, South Leys Campus, Enderby Road, Scunthorpe, DN17 2JL Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 03/08/2023 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Little Owls (Scunthorpe) Limited

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's positive behaviour and attitudes throughout the nursery. Staff establish clear and consistent routines from the start that help to ensure babies and children learn to feel confident and assured in the nursery. Staff work closely with parents to reflect home routines, such as sleep and nappy changing procedures, to help babies and young children start their nursery life with confidence and security. Staff are consistently positive role models. They listen well to children, for example, and help children to make decisions about their play and learning. Children are very well behaved and show increasing awareness and care for others.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Staff plan systematically to help children who find it hard to recognise others' needs to share and take turns. For instance, babies learn to choose books together and understand that they cannot all be read at the same time. Older children take turns to mix and stir their sensory play buns outdoors. Staff work with parents to ensure that children attend regularly and are on time. There are well-established routines for staff and parents to communicate if there are any unexplained absences.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders establish an inclusive and caring ethos throughout the nursery. The support and care all children receive, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged and vulnerable children, is built on accurate assessments of their wellbeing needs. These processes precisely identify children's individual learning and development needs. Leaders ensure that the children's key workers and other staff receive carefully matched training to understand and support those who need additional help. All groups of children learn to be confident and happy as a result.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff strongly support and promote all aspects of children's welfare and wellbeing. For example, children's wellbeing is systematically enriched through regular dance and other physical activities that build children's strength and body control, nutritious snacks and healthy eating role play in the mud kitchen. Consequently, children learn the value of regular exercise and healthy food choices. They learn to wash their hands regularly before meals and after toileting. Staff provide guidance to parents to support many aspects of children's welfare, such as weaning, sleep and behaviour management. Staff make strong use of routines and rewards to help children achieve independence and self-awareness. Children know, for example, how to work together to leave their play area tidy before they start their next activity.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders create a strongly inclusive culture within the setting and the wider community. Staff know all the children in their care well. They build strong bonds with babies and children and accurately assess their needs and achievements. Staff swiftly identify any gaps in children's learning at an early stage and work closely with parents and senior staff to identify and plan

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Expected standard

for the next steps in the children's development. Leaders are rigorous in ensuring that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), disadvantaged and vulnerable children receive the prompt support they need to achieve their potential overall. For example, they support staff to access high-quality specific training and guidance from other educational and medical professionals. They carefully consider the use of additional funding, such as early years pupil premium funding, to improve outcomes and raise children's achievement, for example through providing toys closely matched to personal interests and sensory activities that reduce gaps in children's experiences.

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Expected standard

Leaders have strategically reviewed all aspects of the provision to make sure that the environment supports a fully inclusive setting. For example, they have created a high-quality safe and quiet place for children, including those with SEND, who sometimes find larger classroom spaces challenging.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The experienced and well-qualified leadership team has focused on creating a strongly inclusive, caring and engaging environment. Leaders have a clear understanding of the nursery's strengths and weaknesses. They have thoughtfully identified and started implementing a programme of professional development and support for newer members of staff. There are robust procedures to gather the views of parents, children and staff through, for instance, regular focused questionnaires and discussions to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of the nursery. Leaders and other senior staff work towards challenging actions, such as strengthening the good practice in inclusion and provision for babies, to have a sustained impact on children's achievement and wellbeing. They support this through strategic research, training and links with the local community. For example, they have developed increasingly sharply focused procedures based on high level training to monitor

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

teaching and learning and increasingly address the identified inconsistencies and raise achievement to the highest standards for all staff.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders value staff's wellbeing and welfare. They use staff's self-evaluation, induction procedures, regular supervision discussions, staff meetings and training days to support and motivate staff. As a result, staff morale is high, and they feel valued. The leadership has established good relationships with other agencies, such as educational psychological services and social services, to ensure all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, disadvantaged and looked after children, are prepared for their future learning.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children make progress from their starting points and learn to express themselves clearly and with confidence. They benefit from regular opportunities to explore books and stories, which help them learn about the world around them. For instance, children learn about arctic conditions and the animals that live there through well-chosen stories. However, very occasionally, children do not make the very best progress they are capable of when teaching is not sharply matched to their needs, for example when the resources, such as flash cards or written numbers, are too difficult for children to understand and remember.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and other vulnerable learners make positive progress as they build their communication skills in small, manageable steps, including using Makaton and other communication strategies. They make progress that prepares them well for the next stage in their learning. Children benefit from support that helps them to build securely on what they already know and can do.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have established an imaginative and systematic curriculum that supports children to build on earlier learning from their individual starting points. Staff make effective use of assessment to meet children's needs, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged children. Leaders have effective induction procedures to support staff, several of whom are new to the nursery, to develop the knowledge and understanding to support children's learning and development overall. However, occasionally, some staff do not adjust their teaching sharply enough to fully embed new learning and deepen understanding. For example, sometimes, they do not vary their questions to check all children's understanding and occasionally resources are too complex or undemanding.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff in the baby room are well trained in early communication skills, safe sleeping, feeding and weaning to provide a secure foundation for future learning. Staff are knowledgeable and confident in building children's vocabulary and their knowledge of the world. For example, young children become inquisitive communicators as they handle different textures in their sensory play. Older children use zebra crossings and are aware of other vehicle uses in their physical role play.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Children's mathematical skills are systematically developed. For example, younger children learn to securely count and match quantities to 5. Older children use their strong knowledge of numbers to compare weights and balance scales with toy animals.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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

Children are very happy throughout their time in this stimulating and constantly developing nursery. They make progress from their individual starting points in all areas of learning. Overall, children are prepared well for the next stage in their learning, including starting school. Staff work closely with babies and their families, for instance to establish early routines that help babies to feel safe and confident.

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

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, become independent and confident as they learn to follow instructions safely and organise their own play. They learn to be patient and take turns in their games and support each other. Babies learn to play alongside other children and build their early physical and sensory skills as they sprinkle rice and other tactile substances through their fingers. Children who find it difficult to understand and communicate their own feelings are skilfully helped to identify and manage their own emotions. Children feel valued.

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

Babies learn to listen, enjoy and join in with the many familiar action songs, nursery rhymes and stories staff share with them. This helps to establish a firm basis for emerging language skills. Older children build on this knowledge and understanding through, for example, games and group activities that help them recognise rhymes and initial sounds of words. They extend their vocabulary and enjoy talking about exotic fruits such as pineapples and mangoes they have explored through stories and creative activities. Children make strong

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Address:

Side By Side South Leys Campus, Enderby Road Scunthorpe DN17 2JL

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Little Owls (Scunthorpe) Limited

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 17:00 progress in their understanding of early mathematical skills and language as they explain that one side of the weighing scale 'is the heaviest because it is the lowest'.

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Next steps

Leaders should focus sharply on the improvements planned to support newer members of staff, so high-quality teaching practice is fully embedded to continually enrich children's learning experiences and accelerate their progress.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with children, leaders, the special educational needs coordinators, practitioners and some parents during the inspection.

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About this inspection

We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage. Local authority: North Lincolnshire

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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