Tree Tots Nursery ( Knowsley) Ltd

Tree Tots Nursery ( Knowsley) Ltd

Unique reference number (URN): EY433796 Address: Stockbridge Village Development, The Croft, Waterpark Drive, Stockbridge Village, Merseyside, L28 1SU Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 02/09/2011 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Tree Tots Nursery (Knowsley) 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 Expected standard

Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They share these expectations with children and encourage them to follow the rules and boundaries, such as 'no throwing sand'. Staff are positive role models and set suitable examples for children. They consistently use manners and polite words, which children then copy. Children are very well behaved, happy and settled at the nursery. They play collaboratively with one another and are supported to share and take turns. Children's attitude to learning and concentration levels are suitable for their age, particularly during activities of their own choosing.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff consider the individual needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and other barriers to learning when implementing rules and boundaries. They make some adaptations, particularly at mealtimes, and use visual prompts to help children understand what is expected. These routines are well embedded and as such, children feel secure and valued.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Overall, the key-person system is effectively implemented. Staff get to know children well and generally understand their individual care needs. Staff monitor children's attendance and highlight any discrepancies with leaders. This is followed up swiftly and any concerns around attendance are reported to the local authority and children's social care team. This helps leaders to monitor patterns of attendance and stay alert to any concerns happening in children's homes.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders implement clear procedures for identifying children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and barriers to learning from the start. They use information from parents and carers, and baseline assessments when children first start, to identify specific

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Needs attention

gaps in learning. Staff are supported by the nursery leaders to differentiate their planning in the first instance, before seeking support from outside professionals if necessary. For children who speak English as an additional language, staff use visual aids, flash cards and books to help them gain a grasp of the English language. They recognise when adaptations are needed to help some children access learning, and implement these well.

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Needs attention

Staff complete additional training to help them support children with SEND and those with communication difficulties. They access funding, such as early years pupil premium, and use this wisely to support the children it is allocated to. For example, they appoint additional members of staff to provide one-to-one support and more intensive interactions for children who need it. Overall, children with SEND and other barriers to their learning are supported well to access their full entitlement.

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Achievement Needs attention

Children make some progress across the areas of learning and development, however, this is not always sequential because the curriculum is not focused on what they need to learn next. Not all children access activities and learning that is adapted and specific to their age and stage of development. This hinders them from building on what they already know and can do, ready for the next stage of learning.

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Achievement Needs attention

Children demonstrate effective physical skills. They confidently use the climbing equipment, ride bicycles and balance on tyres. Children learn to use a bat and ball, developing accuracy and control. These large motor skills form the foundations for fine motor skills. Some children are very skilled at pouring water between small containers, showing impressive hand-eye coordination. Children use pipettes to measure water and use scoops to form structures with sand. Physical development is a strength throughout the nursery.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

Generally, leaders ensure that there are procedures in place that promote children's health and wellbeing. However, at times, these are not developed or implemented well enough. For instance, leaders have not considered the early years foundation stage nutritional guidance for children's meals and packed lunches. This means children are receiving high-sugar meals on a daily basis. Furthermore, although leaders share their expectations for packed lunches with parents, this is not monitored and implemented well enough.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

Good hygiene routines, such as handwashing, are well embedded and staff teach children about some of the ways to keep themselves safe and healthy. They talk to children about the importance of cleaning water from the floor to help prevent slips and trips. Children learn to brush their teeth and hear staff talking about how drinking water keeps the body hydrated. This helps children to learn about some of the practices that promote good health and wellbeing.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Although leaders have a broad overview of some of the things they want children to learn, the curriculum is overly generic and not sequenced across the different age groups. For example, rooms generally have the same learning intentions of colours, numbers and sharing. This does not help children to build on their skills and knowledge over the time they spend at the nursery. There are also inconsistencies in how staff identify children's next steps in learning. For children who have clear gaps, staff acknowledge what needs to be worked on next. However, for those who are developing typically, staff are not always clear about what these children need to learn next or why. This means not all children are building on and extending their existing skills and knowledge.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Staff generally promote children's communication and language development well during play. They narrate a lot about what children are doing and encourage them to engage in back-and-forth conversations. They focus on developing children's single words and use books to support children who speak English as an additional language. Staff support children's literacy development through story time and trips to the library. They use wooden- spoon puppets to complement the story and help children to remain engaged.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

There have been some changes to the registered body that the provider failed to notify to Ofsted, as is a requirement of registration. Overall, leaders have a broad awareness of the improvements needed at the nursery but have not yet started to take action. There are some gaps in the procedures for staff induction and supervision, which means not all staff are equipped with the knowledge needed to fulfil their role. For example, some staff do not yet fully understand the policies and procedures. Although staff have supervision meetings and access a variety of training, this is not targeted towards their areas of development. Furthermore, some staff are unsure of the specific steps to take to improve their practice. This has led to weaknesses in the quality of teaching.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Parents are not always provided with all of the information they need, such as children's next steps, to help them extend their learning at home. This hinders the continuity of care and learning for children. Leaders have close relationships with outside professionals, and are an integral part of the local community. They work in partnership with outside agencies to make referrals for children and work closely with the local authority quality team.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders place high priority on staff wellbeing and ensure that they feel supported in their roles. They are considerate to staff workload, for example, they do not fill the nursery to capacity to ensure that the key-person role is manageable for the team. This creates a calm and consistent staff team, which in turn has a positive impact on children's emotional wellbeing.

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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 happy and enjoy their time at the nursery. They separate from their parents and carers with ease, and have clearly formed close relationships with staff. Children attend regularly and have a secure understanding of what is expected of them at nursery. There are some weaknesses in the procedures for staff development, which means not all staff are supported to develop their own skills and knowledge. Because of this, children do not always access a well-designed curriculum that is broad and sequential. For typically developing children, next steps are generic and do not focus precisely on what they need to learn next. This does not help all children to make the best progress across the areas of learning. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities have well-devised play plans which accurately identify what they need to learn next. This helps this group of children to make some progress from their unique starting points.

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

Generally, children's attitude to learning is positive. They demonstrate concentration skills beyond what is expected for their age when taking part in free play activities. However, less so during adult-led activities. Children play collaboratively with one another and are learning about the importance of sharing and turn taking. Positive behaviour is well promoted across the nursery. Leaders value the relationships they have with families and make adaptations to how they share general information, for instance by text message, to support families' individual needs. However, they do not share all the information needed to promote children's learning at home.

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Next steps

To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must take the following actions by the assigned date:

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Action Completion Date

plan and implement a broad and sequenced curriculum that builds on children's knowledge over time 08/09/2026

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Action Completion Date

support staff to identify accurate next steps for all children that focus on what they need to learn next 08/09/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure that the meals served to children are in line with the latest government nutritional guidance 08/09/2026

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Action Completion Date

implement robust procedures for staff induction to ensure they are confident with the policies and procedures before they start their role 08/09/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure that the procedures for staff supervision provide staff with accurate targets to address areas for development 08/09/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure that all parents receive the information they need to help them extend children's learning at home 08/09/2026

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, parents and children during the inspection.

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Address:

Stockbridge Village Development The Croft Waterpark Drive Stockbridge Village Merseyside L28 1SU

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Tree Tots Nursery (Knowsley) Limited

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 17:00

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Address:

Local authority: Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

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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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Age range of children at the time of 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.

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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.

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Urgent improvement

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

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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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