URN 2743156 · Inspected 2026-01-14 · Published 2026-03-13 · Inspector: Melanie Eastwell Teresa Lester
Lime Tree Loughborough Unique reference number (URN): 2743156 Address: Lime Tree Day Nursery, Great Central Road, Loughborough, LE11 1RW Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 20/07/2023 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Lime Tree Loughborough Ltd Inspection report: 14 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. Strong standard Achievement Strong standard Children are relaxed and happy at nursery. They respond to the encouragement from confident and experienced staff. This supports children to show sustained interest in the activities and be motivated to try new things. Children rapidly develop confidence, invite staff to join in with their play and are eager to stand up in front of their friends to sing a song. Babies build warm and trusting attachments. They are excited to join in with a music session, shaking instruments, dancing and listening to the words of familiar songs and rhymes. All children become increasingly independent and develop skills that contribute to them being well prepared for starting school. Older babies begin to learn how to feed themselves using their fingers and a spoon, and they attempt to wipe clean their hands and faces. Toddlers are keen to try to put their coats and boots on ready to play outside, and pre-school children competently serve their own meals and drinks. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard Leaders and staff are continually respectful and caring towards the children. Staff are consistently clear and positive in their interactions, which helps children understand what is expected of them. This is further embedded through established routines, and children demonstrate that they understand what is coming next. This promotes consistently positive behaviour throughout the day. Staff make highly effective use of picture cards to help children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities know what they are doing now and next. Staff show children the cards at transition times so they know it is time to finish what they are doing and prepare for lunch or the next part of the day. The genuinely caring and supportive culture in this nursery contributes to children building close attachments to staff and friendships with one another. Staff adapt their interactions for children of different ages and abilities, which supports sharing and taking turns, and children play together collaboratively. Leaders build effective partnerships with parents and carers that promote their understanding of the importance of getting children to nursery on time and to attend regularly. Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard Children benefit from the extremely caring and sensitive approach from the staff, and they demonstrate high levels of wellbeing at this nursery. Children are confident to freely explore the play materials, and they make choices about what they want to do. Children know the staff well and approach them for comfort and reassurance as they need it. Staff skilfully recognise when children need additional support. They use the garden and the sensory room to help children to regulate their emotions. Staff and leaders are highly supportive of children's parents and carers. They recognise the value of a consistent approach for children and how this contributes to children's care and learning needs being met. Staff place a high priority on children's safety. Effective risk assessments and ongoing monitoring mean the nursery environment is safe and welcoming. Staff follow robust steps to ensure that children are safe when they are eating and when they sleep. Staff talk to children about the importance of taking care of themselves. They help children become independent in their self-care throughout their time at nursery, gradually building on their skills. Children demonstrate that they know the daily routine. Staff help children to use their cutlery effectively and talk to them about the foods they have for snack and lunch. Inclusion Strong standard The consistent and positive culture of inclusion ensures that all children attending take an active and purposeful role at nursery. Leaders provide effective support for staff through training, mentoring and discussions to develop their knowledge and understanding of how to recognise and identify children who need additional support. Staff work effectively with parents and other agencies involved with children to ensure a consistent approach. Leaders have implemented regular get-togethers for parents whose children have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They also use social media to provide a community for parents where they can build supportive relationships with each other and the company SEND team. This additional support helps parents access information about strategies that may help at home. It is open to parents of children who attend any of the company's settings and continues if required when the children move on to school or other settings. Staff are confident to monitor children's development. They use a smaller steps assessment document that helps them identify where children have gaps in their development. Staff plan specific strategies and activities for each child, such as additional one-to-one time with their key person, small-group activities, outdoor play and time in the sensory room. Regular checks are made on whether the strategies and any additional funding children receive are having a positive impact. This reflection contributes to changes being made if necessary to ensure that children make the best progress they can. Leadership and governance Strong standard Leaders demonstrate a secure awareness of how the staff work with children in each of the group rooms. The time they spend observing staff significantly contributes to their detailed understanding of the strengths in staff practice and the areas that require further improvement. The ongoing support and training leaders have implemented have been successful in building staff's understanding of how to provide a high-quality curriculum and to accurately identify what individual children need to learn next. Minor inconsistencies in staff's teaching practice were observed, and leaders have identified clear plans to support newer and less-experienced staff to upskill their knowledge and practice through effective mentoring and coaching. Staff feel valued by the leaders in their ongoing professional development, and they feel supported with their wellbeing. Leaders ensure that staff have professional learning opportunities for areas of specific interest to them, such as special educational needs and/or disabilities. Thorough induction procedures are in place for new staff. These ensure that they understand the policies and procedures and have observed aspects of the daily routine Expected standard before they do these tasks independently, such as serving food to children, changing nappies and supervising children who are asleep. The robust monitoring and clear steps for new staff to work to contribute to the high expectations for professionalism being embedded throughout this nursery. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard The curriculum at this nursery is ambitious for all children and understood by staff and leaders. Staff speak confidently about what they want children to learn, and overall, they successfully adapt their interactions as they play alongside them, which ensures that each child taking part has a meaningful experience that contributes to their learning. Staff take account of what children know already and plan activities to promote their communication and language. Staff introduce new words, such as 'shark' and 'octopus', that children repeat to identify models in the water tray. Staff incorporate mathematical language into activities with counting and comparing sizes as they play. Staff encourage babies to babble and be vocal, and older children are eager to share their knowledge. The positive engagement from staff promotes children's social and emotional skills. Children play well together. They cooperate with friends as they share pots of paint and pass paintbrushes to one another. Occasionally, there are some inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. Newer and less- experienced staff do not always fully support children to follow their own ideas, such as when they want to play outside and during painting activities. Leaders recognise the strengths and areas for further improvement in teaching and interactions. They observe staff practice and provide targeted, ongoing mentoring and training to help staff develop their skills and to reflect on their interactions with children. This positive support ensures that all children continue to achieve and are well prepared for the next stage in 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 Children thoroughly enjoy their time at nursery. Staff successfully build trusting and positive relationships with children and their parents or carers. This contributes to children attending regularly and receiving a consistent approach to their care and learning, which, in turn, helps children feel a sense of belonging and wellbeing. Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from the supportive relationships with staff, which help them to achieve alongside their friends. This reduces some of the barriers, such as communication and language, and helps children with SEND be fully included as part of their group. The strategies in place for individual children are reviewed regularly to check they continue to have a positive impact on children's development and wellbeing. Children are motivated and curious to take part in the activities, and they rise to the high expectations staff have for them. Children listen to staff as they introduce new ideas to them, such as the importance of caring for the environment. Staff's careful planning ensures that children have a wide range of opportunities to practise their skills. They use tongs to retrieve pieces of plastic from water, and they are fascinated by the animals in the tray, including starfish, and repeat their names back to staff. Some children connect their learning as they talk in detail about their own experience of seeing litter on the street and putting it in the bin. Staff are sensitive towards children. When babies wake after a sleep, they have cuddles with staff until they are ready to move on. Babies quickly become engaged in looking at a book. They point at animals when staff say their names and copy staff when they make the animal noises. When the book is finished, children toddle over to choose another book for the member of staff to read with them. Inspectors: Melanie Eastwell Teresa Lester About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2743156 Address: Lime Tree Day Nursery Great Central Road Loughborough LE11 1RW Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 20/07/2023 Registered person: Lime Tree Loughborough Ltd Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00 Local authority: Leicestershire Next steps Leaders should continue to embed the strategies to enhance staff's practice to ensure the curriculum is delivered through consistently high-quality teaching and interactions. About this inspection The inspectors spoke with leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator, parents and carers 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. Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 14 January 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 85 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. 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