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Early years · Report card

Rascals Natural Learning

Inspected 24 Aug 2026 · URN EY547402

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Summary

No overall grade in this frameworkSafeguarding met

Susan Hyatt

What we read, and from where

Click a reading to see it highlighted in the report.

  • Achievement verified

    Needs attention

  • Behaviour, attitudes and routines verified

    Expected standard

  • Children's welfare and wellbeing verified

    Expected standard

  • Curriculum and teaching verified

    Needs attention

  • Inclusion verified

    Needs attention

  • Leadership and governance verified

    Expected standard

  • Framework verified

    Report card

  • Group verified

    MacFarlane, Sally Louise

  • Inspection datesingle source

    24 Aug 2026

  • Inspectors verified

    Susan Hyatt

  • Postcode verified

    DN37 8JS

  • Name on report verified

    Rascals Natural Learning

  • Safeguarding verified

    Met

  • URN verified

    EY547402

Page 8 of 9
Page 8 of the report with the evidence highlighted

Deep dive

What this report says

In plain English

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Grade profile

Hollow rings show the previous inspection, 2026.

  • AchievementNeeds attention
  • Behaviour, attitudes and routinesExpected
  • Children's welfare and wellbeingExpected
  • Curriculum and teachingNeeds attention
  • InclusionNeeds attention
  • Leadership and governanceExpected

Tone of the report

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

+23Mostly positivemore positive than 10% of reports of this type

Reads more critically than most reports of this type.

Praisepositiveenjoyeffectivelyconfidentsecuretrusting relationshipssafehigh-quality
Criticismvariablelacknot yetweaknessesconcernsdisruptionlapsesnot always

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
  • Findings1271w+10
  • Leadership190w+53
  • Safeguarding51w−11
  • What needs to improve138w+25

Strengths

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

Concerns

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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
9
Words of findings
1,650
about usual (typical 1698)
Reading level
Fairly hard
Flesch 51, typical 43
Average sentence
16 words
Next steps
2
typical 3
Hedged sentences
5%
“some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 63%Leadership 9%Safeguarding 3%What needs to improve 7%About the inspection 19%

Full report text

Rascals Natural Learning

Unique reference number (URN): EY547402 Address: The Old Brocklesby School, Brocklesby Road, Great Limber, Grimsby, DN37 8JS Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 16/05/2017 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: MacFarlane, Sally Louise

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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

Children are encouraged to behave well and learn to cooperate. Staff use praise and role model expectations to encourage children to share and take turns. They have built positive relationships with the children in their care. For example, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have developed secure and trusting relationships with their favourite members of the staff team. As a result, children with SEND settle quickly at the setting.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff encourage children to take part in large group activities, such as story time. In general, children sit and listen, predicting what may happen next and readily counting the seagulls in the pictures. When some children disengage, this is typically well managed with staff providing support to reduce disruption to the activity. Children with SEND and those who face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing receive targeted support during group times and mealtimes to help them take part in routine activities along with their friends.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders routinely monitor attendance, ensuring that any lapses are checked to keep children safe. Staff work closely with parents to help them understand the importance of regular attendance and how it may affect their child's development.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children build secure attachments with their key person. All children develop a sense of belonging and become increasingly confident and independent in their surroundings. Leaders understand the importance of supporting children's health and wellbeing. Children are provided with nutritious meals and fresh drinking water, and robust systems are in place to ensure that their dietary needs are met. Staff create a calm, comfortable environment for children who need to rest. They regularly check that children remain safe while they sleep.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

All children have multiple opportunities throughout the day to access outdoor play. Children enjoy copying staff as they pretend to be crabs on the beach. They giggle as they walk sideways across the play area, pretending their hands are claws. This helps their developing coordination skills. Children are developing good hygiene practices and basic self-care skills such as washing their hands when returning from outdoor play, after messy play and before meals. Babies babble back and forth to staff during nappy changing routines.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children are developing their growing independence skills. Older babies are supported to wash their hands and feed themselves at lunchtime. Two-, three- and four-year-olds are encouraged to take turns and serve themselves food at lunchtime and pour their own drinking water. Staff provide help when necessary. For example, staff gently help children position their hands, enabling them to hold cutlery correctly. This helps children learn to do things for themselves.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have taken a positive approach to the actions raised at the last inspection. They have worked closely with the local authority to develop and implement a new curriculum to build on children's progress. While the recent improvements support staff to help children make steady progress, the delivery of the curriculum is not yet fully embedded. Leaders recognise that different confidence levels of staff have resulted in variable staff practice across the setting. As a result, leaders ensure regular team briefings, staff appraisals and dedicated time for training occurs to effectively enhance staff practice further.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders consider staff's wellbeing and workload in their decision-making, ensuring that support is available when needed and expectations are realistic. This helps maintain a safe and positive environment for everyone. Staff say they enjoy working at the setting and leaders are supportive.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders and staff develop positive relationships with parents. They share ideas with parents to try with their children at home. Parents state their children have developed positive relationships with staff and enjoy attending the setting. They say staff have helped support their child's health needs and that transition between rooms is well managed.

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Achievement Needs attention

Children do not achieve as well as they could because there are weaknesses in staff's implementation of the curriculum. For example, children who are developing new interests in the environment and show a keenness to engage with certain activities, do not receive consistently purposeful interactions from staff. The lack of consistent support has a direct impact on their learning and their developing interests and curiosity.

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Achievement Needs attention

Three- and four-year-old children benefit from small group work with staff. Children concentrate well, listening to staff instruction as they safely explore tools within the forest school area. Children say 'wow' as they are shown the tools and they repeat new words they have learnt from staff such as 'loppers' and 'secateurs'. They readily share with staff and their friends that they have some of these tools at home. This helps build on children's growing vocabulary and conversational skills.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders' recent improvements to the curriculum and learning environment are supporting children to progress, however, the delivery of the curriculum is not yet fully embedded. This is because the newly developed curriculum is still in its infancy. Interactions between staff and children often lack purpose, direction and challenge. As a result, the quality of teaching is variable, and children's experiences are not consistent throughout the setting.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Staff are aware of each child's level of ability. They adapt their vocabulary to support early mathematics. For example, three- and four-year-olds are helped to identify colours, count and compare sizes. For example, during a forest school activity, children are encouraged to compare different sized hammers. This helps children build on what they already know and can do.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Children develop their motor skills effectively, building their muscle strength and coordination during outdoor play. For example, staff work with children to create an obstacle course. Children are supported to balance as they walk across short planks and tyres. One-year- olds show increasing control and dexterity as they carefully turn the pages of board books while listening to staff read a story. Toddlers work with staff to stack brightly coloured discs onto a pole and then watch as the discs spin off when the pole is tipped. This helps children learn cause and effect.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Staff work with external professionals to embed tailored plans to help children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing to achieve their targets. This includes during transition times within the daily routine, during large group times and at mealtimes. For example, staff gently support children with SEND to sit at the table with their friends and to try new foods. That said, during play activities, staff are not intuitive enough to notice children's emerging interests and adapt their teaching. This includes children with SEND. As a result, teaching is not adapted appropriately, and this impacts the overall progress children make.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders use funding effectively to support children. Targeted funding is used to support one- to-one interventions and to provide opportunities that children may not otherwise have access to. Leaders work with staff to monitor and review the impact this has on learning to ensure that it helps to improve outcomes for children.

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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

While children have some positive learning experiences, the quality of teaching is variable across the setting. This is because, at times, purposeful staff interactions are minimal. To this end, much of what children learn is incidental, rather than being consistently well supported to build on their knowledge and skills. In addition, staff do not always support some children who show an interest in new resources or activities. Instead, staff repeatedly attempt to engage children in activities they believe children prefer. This impacts on children's engagement in their learning and the overall progress they can make.

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

Children enjoy their time at this welcoming setting. Even the youngest children build secure attachments with the familiar staff team. Leaders and staff work closely with parents to develop care routines that are closely aligned to what is experienced at home and to ensure children attend regularly. As a result, children develop a sense of belonging and are confident in their environment. For example, toddlers use their hands and fingers to make marks in paint. They receive reassurance as they feel the texture of the paint and they are supported to use chunky brushes to create their art work.

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

Children are developing their early social skills. They readily work with their friends and staff to build car ramps from tubes. Children work together to determine the height of the tubes and how long they will be. Staff safely supervise children as they stand on crates to reach the ends of the tubes. Children are helped to take turns to push their cars down the tubes, showing excitement as they wait for their cars to appear at the other end. This helps children to play cooperatively with others and build friendships.

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Address:

The Old Brocklesby School Brocklesby Road, Great Limber Grimsby DN37 8JS

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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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

ensure that all children benefit from high-quality interactions with staff and receive meaningful and purposeful learning experiences that build on what they already know and can do 24/09/2026

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Action Completion Date

improve staff knowledge and expertise, enabling them to recognise when to adapt their teaching to help children follow their interests and develop new skills 24/09/2026

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners and children 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. Registered person: MacFarlane, Sally Louise

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About this inspection

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:00 - 17:30

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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.

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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

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

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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