The Orange Tree Day Nursery @ Derby — Ofsted Nursery Tracker

Grades by area

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines

Strong standard

Leaders have created a highly positive and nurturing environment. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour, across the setting, to promote and embed good behaviour. They are consistently kind and show empathy and respect to every child, and each other. Children mirror these behaviours exceptionally well, showing kindness and care to their friends. For example, when a child is unable to reach the soap, their friend passes this to them. Staff are highly skilled at helping children to deal with their emotions. They refer to books and puppets linked to expressing feelings and emotions, to help the youngest children begin to learn how to recognise how they are feeling. All children have a positive attitude to their learning. They work collaboratively during shared experiences. Older children show patience and teamwork as they make a den together in the garden. They use jugs and cups to catch rain together, showing each other how much they have collected. Toddlers take it in turns to turn the pages in a book when supported by staff. All children understand and follow established routines with confidence, such as waiting patiently for their turn at mealtimes. Children are regular, punctual attenders. Parents are encouraged to bring children on time and to attend all their sessions. This has a positive impact on children's wellbeing and helps to prepare them for future routines, such as starting school. Leaders make adjustments to children's sessions when needed, to help parents manage this more effectively. Routines and transitions throughout the day are managed well. Staff use visual cues, such as 'now and next' pictures, to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Children's welfare and wellbeing

Strong standard

Children's welfare and safety is given high priority. Staff are attentive to children's needs and create a calm and welcoming provision for childcare through their highly effective, nurturing and consistent approach. Children form very secure, trusting attachments to staff at the setting because of this approach. As a result, children demonstrate an extremely positive sense of security, emotional stability and wellbeing. Safer-sleeping guidance is followed extremely well. Staff are adept at mirroring routines from home, which helps children to settle quickly and easily. They are excellent at recognising when children are becoming tired and create nurturing, safe spaces for them to sleep and relax. Babies lay in cots and older children on sleep mats. Staff stay in the rooms with them, consistently checking for the rise and fall of their chest regularly during this time. Highly effective daily risk assessments and careful supervision, both indoors and outside, ensure environments remain thoroughly safe, without limiting children's exploration. Children are enthusiastic in helping to keep the areas they access clean and tidy. They use brushes to help keep areas free from hazards and talk about the importance of doing this. Leaders are adept in the monitoring of accident records to ensure children can play safely. They adapt play spaces whenever they believe there is a need to do so. Staff promote healthy lifestyles consistently well. Children enjoy nutritious meals, which are meticulously prepared to meet their individual dietary requirements. Staff are highly knowledgeable about what children can and cannot eat and talk to them about the food they eat and how this promotes their good health.

Achievement

Expected standard

Children are happy in this setting and enjoy participating in the range of activities offered to them. All children, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, make steady progress from their starting points and develop key skills across all areas of learning. Overall, children make appropriate progress in their speech and language skills. Babies display confidence as they begin to pull themselves to standing and cruise around well-placed furniture. They crawl along the floor to seek out their favourite toys and show delight as they finally reach them and begin to play. Older babies work collaboratively to create a train track, concentrating as they join the pieces together, share resources and pass pieces to each other. They show excitement when they complete their task and take turns to push trains around the track, demonstrating cooperation, turn-taking and engagement. Older children are learning key skills needed to support them in readiness for the next stage in their learning, such as school. They learn to put on their own puddle suits, serve their own meals and grow in skill in their use of tools, such as safety knives and hammers.

Curriculum and teaching

Expected standard

Leaders have a secure understanding of the curriculum and support the staff team to deliver this effectively for every child. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those children who have barriers to their learning, are supported well by staff. Children typically benefit from meaningful experiences that promote their development and progress towards their next steps in learning. However, at times, staff teaching can be variable. Some staff do not consistently extend children's learning to keep them motivated and focused. For example, during an activity using a tough tray, staff want children to learn about colours and emotions. However, sometimes staff are unsure how to use such activities to extend children's learning further. This can occasionally mean that some children become disinterested and wander off. Staff, overall, are skilled at helping to model and build on children's communication and language development as they play. They model new vocabulary, such as 'poisoned wart', and talk to children as they play. However, there are times that staff talk too rapidly and so do not always allow children to respond or use the new language they are being introduced to. Children love to be outdoors and engage in lots of meaningful play and activities in all weathers. They enjoy feeling the rain on their hands and use pots and jugs to try and catch this. They empty these on the plants in the garden and staff talk to them about the importance of water, helping them to understand how plants grow. Children cuddle up to staff in the outside area and enjoy listening to stories and singing songs.

Inclusion

Expected standard

Leaders and staff gather detailed information about children's individual needs, from parents and carers, when they first join the setting. They regularly review and assess children's progress in order to identify where they may need additional help. From this, they identify the appropriate support plan needed for each child, quickly assessing where additional help may be needed, particularly for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). When required, staff plan smaller next steps for learning to enable every child to make progress appropriate to their age and ability. Leaders reduce the amount of children staff support throughout the provision. These smaller groups give children greater confidence in their abilities and help staff to identify where any potential gaps are in children's learning. This allows staff to plan and target more effectively, helping all children to progress in their learning more quickly. Staff who lead on supporting children with SEND have a secure understanding of their responsibilities and carry out their roles with passion. They provide valuable guidance and ongoing advice to support staff in meeting children's unique needs, and plan effectively for their learning. Leaders and staff work closely with other agencies, such as speech and language therapists, using their expertise to help guide and target learning effectively for each child. Leaders ensure staff training is targeted appropriately to help staff support every child.

Leadership and governance

Expected standard

Leaders are passionate about their roles and have a clear vision for what it is they want every child to achieve before leaving the setting. They continually look at what the setting does well and what they can do better. They recognise that there are some gaps and have put plans in place to strengthen the provision and improve outcomes for children. Leaders are confident in accessing any additional funding that children may be entitled to, applying this appropriately where needed, to support the individual needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or barriers to their learning. Parents and carers speak positively about leaders and staff. They comment on the care and nurturing their children receive from all key staff, and of the positive progress they make. Parents comment on the flexibility offered to them, particular when wanting to change or adapt their child's hours of attendance. They appreciate the welcoming environment offered to their children and value the sharing of ideas to support learning when their child is not in the setting. Leaders place a positive focus on staff wellbeing. Regular meetings are offered to all staff to talk about their workload and wellbeing, the needs of the children and any emerging development needs. Leaders provide regular training for all staff to develop their knowledge and practice. Staff report on the positive working environment and the highly effective support received from leaders to develop and enhance their practice.

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

Children clearly enjoy attending this welcoming and inclusive setting. Children experience warm and caring relationships with staff. All children, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. Transitions when children join, and throughout the setting, are well thought out in order to support children's wellbeing. Staff take time to get to know the whole family. Parents comment positively on this approach and of how much this supports their child to settle. All children show confidence as they enter the setting. For example, the youngest children happily wave goodbye to their parent as they start their day. All children are fully included in the activities provided. They enjoy learning and, overall, sustain high levels of concentration in activities that they eagerly join. For example, when playing in the mud kitchen older children show enthusiasm and excitement as they mix herbs and spices to make their own 'potions', commenting on how these smell. Staff encourage them to recall what they have added into their potions to help them to practise their speaking skills. Staff weave mathematical learning into everyday tasks, helping children to apply their learning in meaningful ways. When older children fill containers with water, they know when to ask staff to turn the tap off for them. They skilfully pour water from these into smaller containers, rarely spilling any water. Consequently, children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, develop confidence in their own abilities. Children successfully develop their physical skills. Babies learn to stack blocks and pull themselves to standing in the well-organised play spaces. Toddlers show increasing control and confidence as they learn to climb steps and use their hands to explore sensory materials and build their muscles. Older children show good dexterity and hand—eye coordination as they use hammers in the forest school area, and safety knives when helping to prepare foods and in the role-play areas, under the watchful eye of staff. They confidently make choices, express their ideas and become increasingly independent in everyday tasks. Children show positive attitudes to learning, persevere with challenges and take pride in their achievements.

Next steps

Leaders should enhance staff interactions with children to extend their communication and language skills consistently across the setting. Leaders should further support staff to ensure that interactions and activities are consistently purposeful to effectively support children's learning and progress.

About this inspection

The inspectors 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.

About this setting

URN: 2826514
Address: 105-107 Duffield Road Derby DE22 1AE
Type: Childcare on Non-Domestic Premises, Full day care
Registration date: 09/01/2025
Registered person: Childcare Matters Limited
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Local authority: Derby

Facts and figures

Age range at inspection: 0 to 4
Total places: 129

Data from 27 August 2026

The Orange Tree Day Nursery @ Derby Unique reference number (URN): 2826514 Address: 105-107 Duffield Road, Derby, DE22 1AE Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 09/01/2025 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Childcare Matters Limited Inspection report: 27 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 highly positive and nurturing environment. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour, across the setting, to promote and embed good behaviour. They are consistently kind and show empathy and respect to every child, and each other. Children mirror these behaviours exceptionally well, showing kindness and care to their friends. For example, when a child is unable to reach the soap, their friend passes this to them. Staff are highly skilled at helping children to deal with their emotions. They refer to books and puppets linked to expressing feelings and emotions, to help the youngest children begin to learn how to recognise how they are feeling. All children have a positive attitude to their learning. They work collaboratively during shared experiences. Older children show patience and teamwork as they make a den together in the garden. They use jugs and cups to catch rain together, showing each other how much they have collected. Toddlers take it in turns to turn the pages in a book when supported by staff. All children understand and follow established routines with confidence, such as waiting patiently for their turn at mealtimes. Children are regular, punctual attenders. Parents are encouraged to bring children on time and to attend all their sessions. This has a positive impact on children's wellbeing and helps to prepare them for future routines, such as starting school. Leaders make adjustments to children's sessions when needed, to help parents manage this more effectively. Routines and transitions throughout the day are managed well. Staff use visual cues, such as 'now and next' pictures, to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard Children's welfare and safety is given high priority. Staff are attentive to children's needs and create a calm and welcoming provision for childcare through their highly effective, nurturing and consistent approach. Children form very secure, trusting attachments to staff at the setting because of this approach. As a result, children demonstrate an extremely positive sense of security, emotional stability and wellbeing. Safer-sleeping guidance is followed extremely well. Staff are adept at mirroring routines from home, which helps children to settle quickly and easily. They are excellent at recognising when children are becoming tired and create nurturing, safe spaces for them to sleep and relax. Babies lay in cots and older children on sleep mats. Staff stay in the rooms with them, consistently checking for the rise and fall of their chest regularly during this time. Highly effective daily risk assessments and careful supervision, both indoors and outside, ensure environments remain thoroughly safe, without limiting children's exploration. Children are enthusiastic in helping to keep the areas they access clean and tidy. They use brushes to help keep areas free from hazards and talk about the importance of doing this. Leaders are adept in the monitoring of accident records to ensure children can play safely. They adapt play spaces whenever they believe there is a need to do so. Expected standard Staff promote healthy lifestyles consistently well. Children enjoy nutritious meals, which are meticulously prepared to meet their individual dietary requirements. Staff are highly knowledgeable about what children can and cannot eat and talk to them about the food they eat and how this promotes their good health. Achievement Expected standard Children are happy in this setting and enjoy participating in the range of activities offered to them. All children, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, make steady progress from their starting points and develop key skills across all areas of learning. Overall, children make appropriate progress in their speech and language skills. Babies display confidence as they begin to pull themselves to standing and cruise around well-placed furniture. They crawl along the floor to seek out their favourite toys and show delight as they finally reach them and begin to play. Older babies work collaboratively to create a train track, concentrating as they join the pieces together, share resources and pass pieces to each other. They show excitement when they complete their task and take turns to push trains around the track, demonstrating cooperation, turn-taking and engagement. Older children are learning key skills needed to support them in readiness for the next stage in their learning, such as school. They learn to put on their own puddle suits, serve their own meals and grow in skill in their use of tools, such as safety knives and hammers. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Leaders have a secure understanding of the curriculum and support the staff team to deliver this effectively for every child. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those children who have barriers to their learning, are supported well by staff. Children typically benefit from meaningful experiences that promote their development and progress towards their next steps in learning. However, at times, staff teaching can be variable. Some staff do not consistently extend children's learning to keep them motivated and focused. For example, during an activity using a tough tray, staff want children to learn about colours and emotions. However, sometimes staff are unsure how to use such activities to extend children's learning further. This can occasionally mean that some children become disinterested and wander off. Staff, overall, are skilled at helping to model and build on children's communication and language development as they play. They model new vocabulary, such as 'poisoned wart', and talk to children as they play. However, there are times that staff talk too rapidly and so do not always allow children to respond or use the new language they are being introduced to. Children love to be outdoors and engage in lots of meaningful play and activities in all weathers. They enjoy feeling the rain on their hands and use pots and jugs to try and catch this. They empty these on the plants in the garden and staff talk to them about the importance of water, helping them to understand how plants grow. Children cuddle up to staff in the outside area and enjoy listening to stories and singing songs. Inclusion Expected standard Leaders and staff gather detailed information about children's individual needs, from parents and carers, when they first join the setting. They regularly review and assess children's progress in order to identify where they may need additional help. From this, they identify the appropriate support plan needed for each child, quickly assessing where additional help may be needed, particularly for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). When required, staff plan smaller next steps for learning to enable every child to make progress appropriate to their age and ability. Leaders reduce the amount of children staff support throughout the provision. These smaller groups give children greater confidence in their abilities and help staff to identify where any potential gaps are in children's learning. This allows staff to plan and target more effectively, helping all children to progress in their learning more quickly. Staff who lead on supporting children with SEND have a secure understanding of their responsibilities and carry out their roles with passion. They provide valuable guidance and ongoing advice to support staff in meeting children's unique needs, and plan effectively for their learning. Leaders and staff work closely with other agencies, such as speech and language therapists, using their expertise to help guide and target learning effectively for each child. Leaders ensure staff training is targeted appropriately to help staff support every child. Leadership and governance Expected standard Leaders are passionate about their roles and have a clear vision for what it is they want every child to achieve before leaving the setting. They continually look at what the setting does well and what they can do better. They recognise that there are some gaps and have put plans in place to strengthen the provision and improve outcomes for children. Leaders are confident in accessing any additional funding that children may be entitled to, applying this appropriately where needed, to support the individual needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or barriers to their learning. Parents and carers speak positively about leaders and staff. They comment on the care and nurturing their children receive from all key staff, and of the positive progress they make. Parents comment on the flexibility offered to them, particular when wanting to change or adapt their child's hours of attendance. They appreciate the welcoming environment offered to their children and value the sharing of ideas to support learning when their child is not in the setting. Leaders place a positive focus on staff wellbeing. Regular meetings are offered to all staff to talk about their workload and wellbeing, the needs of the children and any emerging development needs. Leaders provide regular training for all staff to develop their knowledge and practice. Staff report on the positive working environment and the highly effective support received from leaders to develop and enhance their practice. 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 clearly enjoy attending this welcoming and inclusive setting. Children experience warm and caring relationships with staff. All children, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. Transitions when children join, and throughout the setting, are well thought out in order to support children's wellbeing. Staff take time to get to know the whole family. Parents comment positively on this approach and of how much this supports their child to settle. All children show confidence as they enter the setting. For example, the youngest children happily wave goodbye to their parent as they start their day. All children are fully included in the activities provided. They enjoy learning and, overall, sustain high levels of concentration in activities that they eagerly join. For example, when playing in the mud kitchen older children show enthusiasm and excitement as they mix herbs and spices to make their own 'potions', commenting on how these smell. Staff encourage them to recall what they have added into their potions to help them to practise their speaking skills. Staff weave mathematical learning into everyday tasks, helping children to apply their learning in meaningful ways. When older children fill containers with water, they know when to ask staff to turn the tap off for them. They skilfully pour water from these into smaller containers, rarely spilling any water. Consequently, children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, develop confidence in their own abilities. Children successfully develop their physical skills. Babies learn to stack blocks and pull themselves to standing in the well-organised play spaces. Toddlers show increasing control and confidence as they learn to climb steps and use their hands to explore sensory materials and build their muscles. Older children show good dexterity and hand—eye coordination as they use hammers in the forest school area, and safety knives when helping to prepare foods and in the role-play areas, under the watchful eye of staff. They confidently make choices, express their ideas and become increasingly independent in everyday tasks. Children show positive attitudes to learning, persevere with challenges and take pride in their achievements. Next steps Leaders should enhance staff interactions with children to extend their communication and language skills consistently across the setting. Leaders should further support staff to ensure that interactions and activities are consistently purposeful to effectively support children's learning and progress. About this inspection The inspectors 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. Inspectors: Alexandra Brouder Jodie Donaldson About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2826514 Address: 105-107 Duffield Road Derby DE22 1AE Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 09/01/2025 Registered person: Childcare Matters Limited Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00 Local authority: Derby Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 27 August 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 129 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. 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. 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. This publication is available at https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk. Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn. Piccadilly Gate Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted © Crown copyright 2026 © Crown copyright