URN 260840 · Inspected 2026-08-11 · Published 2026-09-15 · Inspector: Tracy Hopkins
Casterton Nursery Unique reference number (URN): 260840 Address: Casterton Business College, Ryhall Road, Great Casterton, STAMFORD, Lincolnshire, PE9 4AT Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 29/03/1995 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Casterton College Rutland Inspection report: 11 August 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. Strong standard Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard Leaders have created a calm, welcoming and respectful environment where expectations for behaviour are clear, consistent and understood by all children. Leaders ensure that staff apply expectations consistently and model considerate and respectful behaviour. Staff know children exceptionally well and take account of their age, stage of development, individual needs and circumstances when supporting them to manage their emotions and behaviour. Children develop really positive relationships with adults and their peers. They learn to listen to others, share, take turns and cooperate during play and group experiences. Staff provide sensitive guidance when children experience difficulties, helping them develop the confidence and social skills needed to resolve differences and get along with others. Children show extremely positive attitudes towards play and learning and are keen to participate. Daily routines are excellent and firmly embedded. Children know what is expected and confidently move between activities, demonstrating increasing independence. Consistent routines provide a predictable structure to the day and enable children to focus on playing, exploring and learning. Leaders place a high priority on regular attendance and punctuality and take decisive action when barriers arise. They work sensitively with families to identify practical solutions to support consistent attendance. Wellbeing checks are completed for children who attend term time only. Leaders' inclusive approach ensures that behaviour expectations and routines are adapted appropriately to meet individual children's needs. Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard Leaders place the highest priority on children's welfare and wellbeing. Children are exceptionally well cared for in a warm, nurturing environment where they feel safe, valued and emotionally secure. The key-person system is exceptionally effective. Staff know children intimately, including their individual personalities, routines, interests, family circumstances and emotional cues. Babies and children form secure attachments with their key persons and confidently seek adults for comfort, reassurance and support. Care is highly personalised. Babies benefit from individual sleeping, feeding, weaning and settling routines that reflect their needs. Staff are trained in safer sleep practices and consistently follow safe care practices. They recognise subtle cues, such as tiredness, hunger or teething, and respond promptly. Families are kept well informed, supporting continuity between home and nursery. Children develop an understanding of their health, physical development and personal safety through everyday experiences. Effective risk assessments keep children safe while allowing them to explore, take appropriate risks and develop independence. Children understand practical safety measures, including why they wear high-visibility jackets when out in the community. Expected standard Staff support children to recognise, express and manage their emotions. Calm, responsive interactions help children recover from minor upset and develop confidence and emotional security. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing barriers to learning or wellbeing receive individualised support and appropriate adaptations. Leaders work closely with families and professionals to remove barriers. As a result, children are exceptionally well settled, confident and secure, and their individual care and welfare needs are consistently met. Inclusion Strong standard Leaders have created a highly inclusive culture where every child is valued, understood and supported as an individual. Children's special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified early through observation, assessment, regular discussion and the early monitoring process. Leaders know children exceptionally well and work closely with staff to identify needs, put appropriate support in place and review progress. Children with SEND make secure progress from their individual starting points. Leaders take effective action to remove barriers to learning and wellbeing. They make thoughtful adaptations and reasonable adjustments and provide targeted support, including small-group 'fun time' sessions, communication and language resources and specialist advice. Leaders work closely with families, the local authority and external professionals, including paediatricians, to shape individual support. Staff receive appropriate training and guidance to identify and respond to children's additional needs and can access local authority resources to further develop their practice. Leaders monitor children's progress through observations, assessments and regular reviews of support. They evaluate the impact of interventions and adapt provision where needed. Additional funding is used purposefully to improve outcomes and remove barriers. For example, resources have been purposefully purchased to support children's physical development, and financial barriers to accessing provision are removed. Transition funding is used effectively to support children moving to school. Children with SEND benefit from additional sessions at their new school, helping them become familiar with the environment, routines and adults before they start. This supports a smooth transition and helps children to settle confidently into their new school. Achievement Expected standard Children make secure progress from their individual starting points and develop the knowledge and skills they need for their next stage of learning, including their move to school. Staff know children exceptionally well and have a secure understanding of child development and the skills children need to acquire across the different age groups. Children develop their communication, physical, personal and social skills through a broad range of experiences. However, children do not consistently make rapid or extensive progress. Staff follow children's interests successfully and provide experiences that engage them, but the intended learning is not always sufficiently clear. This means activities do not always provide the precise teaching and opportunities to practise needed to build children's knowledge and skills. Staff promote communication. They model conversational skills with children, including listening and responding. Children engage in back-and-forth conversation. However, staff do not consistently extend children's vocabulary during interactions. As a result, progress is not as rapid as it could be. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing barriers to learning receive appropriate support and make excellent progress from their individual starting points. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard The curriculum is generally broad and ambitious. Leaders have developed a curriculum that reflects children's developmental stages and interests. Staff know children exceptionally well. They have a secure understanding of child development and the next steps children are working towards. Staff generally plan activities that engage and motivate children. However, they do not always plan activities to precisely target identified next steps or demonstrate a clear understanding of the intended learning. As a result, activities can sometimes reflect what children enjoy rather than deliberately providing opportunities to practise and develop the specific skills they need next. Children develop their physical skills through opportunities to balance, climb, use bikes and trikes and participate in ball games. They develop early mathematical understanding through filling and pouring, comparing the height of each other, using language such as 'tallest' and 'shortest' and exploring quantity. Children develop early literacy through mark making, recognising letters in their names and listening to and retelling familiar stories. They also develop their imagination and problem-solving skills as they work out ways to transport water across the outdoor area using buckets and jugs. Children are very articulate and delight in engaging in back-and-forth conversations with staff. Adults respond warmly and sustain conversations effectively. However, the extent to which staff extend children's vocabulary varies. Adults do not consistently introduce, model and reinforce new vocabulary, so opportunities to further develop communication and language are not always fully utilised. The curriculum is inclusive, with staff adapting activities and provision to meet individual needs and working closely with leaders, families and external professionals. Leadership and governance Expected standard Leaders have a clear and accurate understanding of the setting's strengths and areas for development. They have established clear processes for monitoring the quality of provision and use management discussions, observations and assessment information to identify where further development is needed. Leaders are reflective and receptive to challenge and have correctly identified that curriculum implementation requires further development. Leaders make decisions based on children's individual needs and wellbeing. They work closely with families, the local authority and external professionals to remove barriers and secure appropriate support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who may face disadvantage or other barriers to learning and wellbeing. Additional funding is used purposefully to provide resources, support and experiences that improve children's access and outcomes. Leaders value staff wellbeing and provide regular supervision, where staff can discuss their wellbeing, key children, training needs and priorities. Staff have some choice over their supervisor, supporting open and trusting professional discussions. Leaders also consider workload when planning development priorities. Professional development is targeted to identified needs. Staff access training in areas including safeguarding, safer sleep, communication and language and mathematics. Leaders are also developing supervisors' skills through coaching and additional external support to strengthen professional challenge and reflective practice. Leaders and those responsible for governance understand their responsibilities and act in children's best interests. They monitor the quality of provision through observations, assessment quality assurance and management discussions and take action where improvement is required. 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, settled and feel safe at this warm, nurturing and inclusive nursery. Staff welcome children and families warmly and share information at the start of the day, helping them understand anything that may affect children's wellbeing. Children develop secure relationships with adults and confidently seek familiar staff for reassurance and comfort. The key-person system is a particular strength. Staff know children exceptionally well and understand their personalities, interests, routines and emotional needs. They recognise when children are tired, hungry, teething or need reassurance. As a result, children feel valued, secure and develop a clear sense of belonging. Children thrive because their individual needs are understood and responded to. Staff identify needs early and work closely with parents and other professionals to secure appropriate support without delay. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are included well, with thoughtful adaptations enabling all children to participate fully. Additional funding is used effectively to remove barriers and enhance children's development. For example, staff have created resources to enable more effective communication methods for children who are nonverbal and not always able to express their needs. They are able to with increasing confidence. Children behave very well and respond positively to calm and consistent adults. Excellent routines provide security and predictability. Children know what is expected of them, listen attentively, interact positively and participate well in group experiences. They are developing an understanding of how to keep themselves safe. For example, they know why they wear high-visibility jackets when out and about in the local community. Children enjoy coming to nursery and are highly motivated to explore. They access a broad range of experiences indoors and outdoors, including physical play, imaginative experiences, sensory exploration, mark making, stories and water play. Children confidently Inspector: Tracy Hopkins About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 260840 Address: Casterton Business College, Ryhall Road follow their interests, investigate, experiment and solve problems, developing independence and perseverance. Children enjoy sharing books and stories. They listen attentively as staff read with enthusiasm and use props to recall and join in with familiar parts of stories. They confidently repeat familiar phrases and respond to questions about characters and events. Stories, songs, conversations and play support children's developing communication and language. Children's interests provide a positive starting point for learning. Staff use their knowledge of what children enjoy to engage them successfully. Children confidently make choices, explore resources and increasingly manage familiar routines independently. They demonstrate pride in their achievements and are well prepared for their next stage of learning. Next steps Leaders should ensure children's identified next steps are precisely reflected in planned activities, providing regular opportunities to practise, consolidate and develop the specific knowledge and skills they need next. Leaders should develop staff confidence in extending children's vocabulary, ensuring adults consistently introduce and model new words during interactions so children develop increasingly rich communication and language skills. About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, 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. Great Casterton STAMFORD Lincolnshire PE9 4AT Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 29/03/1995 Registered person: Casterton College Rutland Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00 Local authority: Rutland Council Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 11 August 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 9 Total number of places 69 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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