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
Inspection report: 28 July 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement

Expected standard
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.
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.
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.
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.
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

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

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
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.
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.
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:
Action Completion Date
plan and implement a broad and sequenced curriculum
that builds on children's knowledge over time
08/09/2026
support staff to identify accurate next steps for all
children that focus on what they need to learn next
08/09/2026
ensure that the meals served to children are in line with
the latest government nutritional guidance
08/09/2026
implement robust procedures for staff induction to
ensure they are confident with the policies and
procedures before they start their role
08/09/2026
ensure that the procedures for staff supervision provide
staff with accurate targets to address areas for
development
08/09/2026
ensure that all parents receive the information they
need to help them extend children's learning at home
08/09/2026
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, parents and children during the inspection.

Inspector:
Kayte Farrell
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY433796
Address:
Stockbridge Village Development
The Croft
Waterpark Drive
Stockbridge Village
Merseyside
L28 1SU
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 02/09/2011
Registered person: Tree Tots Nursery (Knowsley) Limited
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 17:00
Local authority: Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 28 July 2026
Children numbers
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.

1 to 4
Total number of places
81
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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