Botanic Lodge Nursery Limited

Botanic Lodge Nursery Limited
Unique reference number (URN): 2826853
Address: Botanic Road, LIVERPOOL, L7 9LH
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 18/02/2025
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Botanic Lodge Nursery Limited
Inspection report: 30 July 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
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders and staff create a calm and harmonious atmosphere throughout the nursery. Staff
have high expectations for behaviour. They set clear and concise boundaries that children
respond to very well. Leaders and staff are reflective when considering children's differing
needs and types of behaviour. They recognise that many children benefit from extended
outdoor play. Children have ongoing opportunities throughout the day to free-flow across
different spaces to maximise their interest and engagement. Staff also utilise their sensory
room during the day. Children enjoy using the space to regulate their emotions and have
some quieter relaxation time.
Children at the setting behave very well. Older children show positive attitudes and great
engagement in the activities. They are very polite and curious. They also display developing
skills of collaboration as they play. This is evident as they engage in meaningful discussions
and play together without always needing an adult fully involved in their play. This means
that older children benefit from an positive balance of child-initiated and adult-led play and
learning. Overall, babies show suitable levels of engagement as they explore and play. They
enjoy singing nursery rhymes and listening to stories, showing that they form trusting
relationships with familiar adults. Leaders and staff work closely with parents and carers to
encourage consistent attendance. They are also vigilant and proactive if a child does not
attend as expected, and follow up with parents and carers to seek an explanation. This
helps to establish positive safeguarding arrangements at the nursery.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Children show that they feel happy and safe at the setting. Babies and children build trusting
relationships and seek comfort and reassurance when needed. This helps to build their
confidence and curiosity. Children's independence is fostered effectively at the setting. This
is evident as older children make choices about their play and self-serve their food at
mealtimes. This helps them to develop their independence skills. Children are well
supported to learn about active and healthy lifestyles. This is apparent when they benefit
from healthy meals, and learn about different foods and their health benefits. They also
enjoy having daily opportunities to play outdoors in the garden and benefit from frequent
visits to the close-by park. This helps to develop their balance and coordination as they run,
jump and climb. Furthermore, children engage in growing vegetables and learn about where
food comes from. They also participate in projects to develop their awareness of oral health.
This helps them to learn about their bodies and self-care skills in a purposeful way.
Equality is at the heart of this nursery. Children learn about different backgrounds and
cultures through exploring books and resources. They also engage in cultural celebrations,
for instance, when celebrating Eid. This supports them to gain awareness of diversity and
the wider world.

Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders and staff are passionate about offering inclusive care and education. They have
high integrity in relation to this. They offer individualised support and care, sometimes
without funding in place to meet the differing needs of more vulnerable children. When
funding is secured, it is used in an impactful way. Children with special educational needs
and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from one-to-one support for key periods during the day.
This helps them to manage busier transitions and parts of the day, such as mealtimes, with
extra support. Leaders and staff have also invested in creating a welcoming sensory room
that is used to help children regulate their feelings and emotions, as well as for targeted
learning interventions.
There is a well-established culture of early identification at the setting. Staff carry out
baseline assessments when children join. They make swift referrals to ensure that children
receive additional support in a timely manner. The level of partnership working with external
professionals is impressive, and children are evidently making progress through these
collaborative relationships. Despite all these strengths, some inconsistencies in curriculum
and teaching for babies broadly impacts the full effectiveness of their SEND provision.
Leaders and staff successfully help children to feel a real sense of belonging, which is
particularly true for children that speak English as an additional language. This is apparent
when they gain key words in their home language, to help them settle in and celebrate and
acknowledge their heritage.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
The nursery is run by an experienced and attuned management team. They are dedicated
to their roles and have clearly made lots of positive contributions to the development of the
nursery. Overall, they make accurate evaluations of the nursery and have arranged
additional training for some staff members to continue to develop their knowledge and skills.
This is evident when staff engage in promoting children's wellbeing and inclusive-practice
training. Leaders are starting to measure the impact of training on staff teaching and
practice. However, this is still in its infancy.
Staff discuss positive levels of wellbeing at work and feel well supported in their roles, for
example, through termly supervision meetings and team meetings throughout the year.
Parents and carers express high levels of appreciation for the work of the team. They state
that staff are very caring and committed. They also comment on feeling well involved in their
children's learning. They receive photographs, updates and assessments on the
information-sharing app and through ongoing discussions about their children's new
achievements. Leaders and staff organise a range of stay-and-play parent events to build
relationships with families. Children also benefit from 'mystery reader' sessions, where a
parent or carer comes and reads a book to them and their peers. This experience supports
children's love of books and boosts their early-literacy skills.

Needs attention
Achievement Needs attention
The inconsistencies in the curriculum and learning opportunities for babies means that
babies do not securely make the full progress that they are capable of. Despite this, babies
generally show appropriate levels of interest as they explore. They like looking at farm
animal 'touch and feel' books, and hear words such as 'soft' and 'bumpy', as they explore
the different animals. In addition, they learn how to handle tools, such as paintbrushes, as
they participate in painting activities.
Toddlers and pre-school children make evident progress at the nursery. They benefit from a
range of meaningful activities that supports them to learn a range of knowledge and skills.
Older children also receive attentive and skilled support to help them target and close any
gaps in their learning. They are consistently busy, either leading their own play or receiving
guidance to move their learning on to the next level. Older children enjoy drawing with
chalks and discuss their creations with confidence. They also develop their imagination as
they make mud cakes and discuss different flavours. Furthermore, they show well-
developed independence skills, as they help with tidying up and make choices during the
day. Consequently, they are well prepared for their eventual move on to school.
Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
While babies show that they are happy and content, there are some differences in practice
throughout the nursery. Some staff working with babies do not consistently provide high-
quality interactions as they play. This means that babies do not consistently engage in
purposeful learning throughout the day. While the knowledgeable and experienced leaders
have started to take appropriate action to improve this, such as arranging additional training
for some staff members, these improvements are at an early stage, and more focus and
attention is required to ensure babies benefit from a consistently high quality of teaching and
learning experiences. Despite this, babies participate in a range of experiences, such as
painting a box and hearing the names of different colours. They also hear 'one, two, three'
as they test what happens when a car goes down a ramp.
By contrast, toddlers and pre-school children experience a fun and engaging range of
activities throughout the day. This is evident, as older children are supported to make
predictions, and discuss what they think will happen when mixing chalks and water together.
Children also show focus and enjoyment as they wash muddy construction vehicles in
water, and talk about the function of different trucks and diggers. Furthermore, older children
enjoy making models with play dough, and are guided to discuss their intentions and hear
words, such as 'stretch' and 'mould'. Older children learn and play extremely well in a calm
and encouraging atmosphere.

What it's like to be a child at this setting
Different-aged children experience inconsistencies in the quality of education. The
curriculum on offer for babies is too simple, and some staff working with babies do not
maximise opportunities that arise to effectively extend their language development and
wider learning to a consistently high standard. Babies generally enjoy exploring and
splashing during water play. This builds their confidence to try new things and supports their
exploration through their senses. They also participate in singing songs, such as 'Little Peter
Rabbit' with puppets. This supports them to hear some new words through songs and
music.
All children across the nursery show that they feel happy and safe. They build secure bonds
with staff that are caring and nurturing and know them well. Children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities, and those who may face other barriers to their
learning or wellbeing, receive targeted support to meet their individual needs. This is a real
strength. It is evident that these children make positive progress through highly effective
partnership working with a wide range of other professionals. Children show a clear
understanding of the boundaries at the setting. They listen and behave well throughout the
day. Toddlers and pre-school children benefit from an engaging curriculum and high-quality
interactions that support them to make notable progress from their starting points. They
show superb enjoyment and engagement as they paint with flowers outdoors. As they paint,
they discuss the petals, stems and leaves, and how new colours are mixed and created.
They also show delight in making cakes in the mud kitchen and receive skilful support to
discuss the different ingredients. As they play, they use lots of mathematical language and
compare different quantities. They also show keen focus and interest as they search for
treasure when playing in sand, and discuss the shiny treasure and gems. Leaders and staff
work closely with parents and carers to promote regular attendance and are proactive in
seeking explanations for non-attendance. This helps to create a positive safeguarding
culture at the setting.
Next steps
To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage the provider must take the
following action by the assigned date:
Action Completion Date
improve and embed an ambitious curriculum for babies
and further develop the way in which staff working with
babies extend their language and learning skills to help
them to make the full progress they are capable of
27/08/2026

Inspector:
Amy Wilkinson
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2826853
Address:
Botanic Road
LIVERPOOL
L7 9LH
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 18/02/2025
Registered person: Botanic Lodge Nursery Limited
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00
Local authority: Liverpool
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 30 July 2026
Children numbers
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, staff and parents 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.

Age range of children at the time of inspection
1 to 4
Total number of places
62
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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