Kids Planet Mere House

Kids Planet Mere House
Unique reference number (URN): 2851079
Address: Nicol Mere Primary School, Roman Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, WIGAN, Lancashire, WN4 8DF
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 30/06/2025
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited
Inspection report: 27 January 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement
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.
How we evaluate safeguarding
When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:
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.

Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
All children make progress from their starting points. Children who have special educational
needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to their learning receive support
to enable them to achieve the next steps in their learning. Children independently use the
magnifying glasses and tools to search for real bugs. They excitedly show off their collection
of worms and bugs. Children talk about the creatures they find, using mathematical
language and appropriate vocabulary to describe them. They also know to return the bugs
to their natural habitat once they have shown their friends.
Children benefit from lots of opportunities to communicate and engage in conversations with
their peers and staff. This helps them to develop confidence in their speech and learn new
words. Regular story-time sessions and lots of singing enable them to join in with familiar
stories and songs. They practise what they have learned in their independent play. Children
share and take turns and have a respectful attitude towards each other. They learn how to
navigate differences and avoid conflict through robust boundaries and golden rules.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Children's behaviour is exemplary. Robust routines and boundaries are consistent across
the setting. Children develop highly positive attitudes to learning early in their journey and
build up on this as they progress through to the next stage of learning. Leaders consistently
promote opportunities for children to develop their independence. For example, children set
the table before meals and put on their own boots and coats to play outdoors. Staff remind
children of rules such as 'walking feet' and 'kind hands'. Children consistently remind each
other of the rules through their activities. For example, when handing out snacks, they
encourage each other to say 'please' and 'thank you'.
Children can access the outdoors freely, which helps to support some of the learning and
development and manage behaviour. Staff deal well with behaviour. They identify potential
signs of conflict and use distraction techniques or provide additional resources to mitigate
any issues. Staff use signals to help children to know what is coming next, for example
sharing the tambourine to signal tidy-up time. The children follow the routines and help to
tidy the areas with staff support. Leaders focus on children's attendance and quickly follow
up on unexplained absences to ensure that children who may be at risk are checked on
promptly.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Staff offer settling-in visits to all new starters. They spend time with parents, getting to know
the babies and their home routines. These are then replicated in the setting to help babies to
settle into their new environment. Interactions between children and their key persons are of
a high quality, meaning that children are really involved in activities and curious about their
learning. Children are supported to learn about and understand feelings and emotions. Staff

use stories and props to help children to talk about their feelings and express their emotions
in a safe way.
Staff help children to wipe noses. They offer children the opportunity to do it for themselves
to encourage independence. Staff stay in the area where babies sleep to carry out regular
safe-sleep touch checks. All information is recorded on the app for parents, including times
of checks and times of sleeps. Staff are clear about safer sleep procedures as part of their
training with the company through induction.
Staff carry out daily risk assessments to ensure that the environment is safe for children.
They plan activities that support children to take balanced risks, such as climbing and
exploring outdoors. However, staff do not always consider the appropriateness of all
resources to ensure that activities are age appropriate.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Staff are confident in their knowledge about individual children. They talk about their needs
and interests and what they are working on next. Staff focus on personal, social and
emotional development, where they support the settling in of new babies and children new
to the setting. They talk to children about feelings and emotions. Staff talk about how
children are feeling and why to help them to understand why they feel that way. They
promote many opportunities for physical development for older babies who are learning to
walk. Regular access to the outdoors allows children to explore nature and develop an
understanding of the world around them. This, combined with weekly movement and music
sessions, allows them to practise their developing physical skills and gain control over their
movements.
Staff engage well with children and offer lots of opportunities for communication. They
highlight new words and celebrate with children when they use them in their play. Staff sit
with small groups of children in the cosy to share stories. They point out the pictures and
discuss the scenes with children. They sing songs relating to the story, which children join in
with.
Leaders are supporting staff with understanding and fully implementing the curriculum.
Children's individual needs are considered and planned for. However, some children who
struggle to communicate are not given the targeted support they need to help them to make
progress.
Inclusion Expected standard
Early identification is done by the key person through supervision or brought to the attention
of designated leaders. Staff consult with parents to keep them fully informed of their child's
progress. Staff complete special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) plans and
carry out 12-week cycles of support, showing knowledge of the graduated response. The
staff team are supported centrally by the SEND team to put interventions and adaptations in
place while waiting for referrals to come through. Children who experience barriers to their
learning are typically supported to make progress. For example, children who show delay in
their physical development are encouraged to gain control over their physical movements.

Staff support children with communication and language delay. They use screening systems
to help identify gaps and areas of focus. This helps to inform staff practice and highlights
areas of focus, which staff share with parents. Children's individual needs are considered
and planned for. However, some children who struggle to communicate are not always given
the targeted support they need to help them to make progress. Leaders place emphasis on
supporting all children, regardless of their starting points or any barriers to learning they may
face.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders are clear about their plans for continuous improvement. They work closely with staff
to address any issues and identify points where changes need to be addressed. Action is
then taken swiftly to ensure high-quality provision.
Staff talk passionately about training, which is identified through supervision. This is a joint
approach to training, where leaders identify areas where support or training may be needed
to enhance practice, then discuss this with staff before agreeing a course of action. This
shows that staff are consulted and are fully aware of their next steps and achievements.
Partnerships with parents are well embedded and reflect a coordinated approach to
learning. Leaders focus on children spending time in nature and away from screens. They
provide home learning bags containing recipes and ingredients to make bird feeders, or
ingredients to make soup. This helps parents with opportunities for children to contribute to
their child's learning in the setting.
Leaders and staff work closely in partnership with other agencies to help support children
with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who may face other barriers to
their learning. Through their early identification of any needs, swift referrals are made to
external services. Leaders liaise with speech and language and health services to ensure
that appropriate adaptations are made for children who face barriers to their learning.
Compulsory Childcare Register requirements
This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.
How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Compulsory Childcare
Register
When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can
have the following outcomes:
Met
Not met

Voluntary Childcare Register requirements
This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.
How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Voluntary Childcare
Register
When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can
have the following outcomes:
Met
Not met
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Staff respond to children's changing interests and encourage their curiosity and exploration.
They provide many opportunities outdoors for children to practise and develop their physical
skills. They can run, climb and balance, and they enjoy jumping in the muddy puddles left by
the rain. Children go out in all weathers and have the appropriate clothing, which they learn
to put on themselves. Toddlers explore play dough and messy play activities, where they
learn to hold tools to make marks or practise squeezing and squashing dough between their
fingers. Staff respond sensitively to young babies' needs. Babies snuggle with their key
person, listening to songs to help them to settle them to sleep. Older babies enjoy exploring
sensory activities, where they can develop curiosity, problem-solving and creativity through
their exploration.
Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. Robust routines help children to know
what is expected of them and what is coming next. Staff instinctively support children to deal
with any conflict, therefore ensuring that behaviour is well managed. Children learn to share
and take turns and learn to respect each other. Children benefit from many opportunities to
develop their self-help skills and to do things for themselves, which helps to develop and
encourage independence. Children sit well at the table and enjoy a social lunchtime. They
chat with staff and their peers about their day, joining in conversations. Children self-serve
their meals and snacks. They build on skills they have learned in previous rooms to gain
independence and confidence to be able to manage these tasks easily. Pre-school children
take ownership of tasks, such as tidy-up time. They quickly learn where items go away and
take pride in helping to tidy their play area.

Inspector:
Michelle Highcock
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2851079
Address:
Nicol Mere Primary School, Roman Road
Ashton-in-Makerfield
WIGAN
Lancashire
WN4 8DF
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 30/06/2025
Registered person: Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Next steps
Leaders and staff should consistently implement adaptations and support for all children
who need additional support.
Leaders should continue to embed the new curriculum to ensure that it is implemented
securely across the setting.
Leaders and staff should fully assess the resources used with younger children to ensure
that they are appropriate.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator,
parents and children during the 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: Wigan
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 27 January 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
51
Our grades explained
Exceptional
Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.
Strong standard
The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of
them.
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.
Needs attention
The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary
improvements.
Urgent improvement
The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of
education and/or care.

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects
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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