Acorn Day Care Limited

Acorn Day Care Limited
Unique reference number (URN): 2721420
Address: 2 Roman Road, Luton, LU3 2QT
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 17/02/2023
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Acorn Day Care Limited
Inspection report: 23 February 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.

Needs attention
Urgent improvement
Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention
Leaders do not ensure that communication with parents is effective to support children with
special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, when parents raise concerns
about gaps in children's learning, these are not followed up, and staff do not start to reduce
the gaps in children's learning and development.
A well-established key-person system is effective, and parents and carers speak highly of
their child's key person. Staff are responsive and attentive to children's personal care needs.
They manage these well to ensure children's dignity and privacy. However, children are not
always aware of staff expectations of what they should be doing during transition time.
Children do not always know what is happening next. This means they are not as
emotionally secure or engaged in meaningful learning at these times.
Children develop their physical skills and enjoy fresh air as they have access to the garden
throughout the day. They can run, play with water, dig sand and throw balls. Children are
offered healthy snacks. Staff discuss the importance of healthy lunches with parents. They
provide them with guidance to support them to make healthy choices. The setting has
engaged with the local authority in implementing new strategies to embed children's and
family's knowledge about healthy lifestyles.
Achievement Urgent improvement
Children are not developing the skills and knowledge that they need to advance in their
learning. Children are not progressing well enough, particularly in their communication and
language. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are not achieving in
key developmental areas. This impacts on their ability to successfully transition within the
setting and/or to school. For example, young children move quickly between activities and
do not stay engaged. Although there is a large garden space, this is not set up to support
children's development. This means those children who prefer to learn outside do not make
the progress they are capable of.
Some older children begin to develop skills ready for school, particularly independence. The
youngest babies are well supported. They develop their physical skills as they move around
activities at different heights and strengthen their leg muscles as they pull themselves up to
stand. Staff continuously narrate the day, exposing them to spoken words.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Urgent improvement
Leaders do not embed routines throughout the setting, and, as a result, children do not
know what is expected of them. Staff move children around the setting without purpose or

planning. This impacts on children's emotional wellbeing, and they become upset. Leaders
have not ensured a high-quality curriculum, which means children do not consistently have
positive attitudes to learning.
Leaders have recently adapted their procedures to promote children's attendance in the
nursery. This has supported families to become familiar with routines ready for experiences
at school.
Staff do not promote positive behaviour to a consistent level throughout the nursery. They do
not consider the different ages of children when supporting their behaviour during play. For
example, when there are disputes over toys in the pre-school room, staff simply tell children
to use 'kind hands'. In the toddler room, staff do not explain to children the importance of
sharing. As a result, children do not learn strategies for managing disputes independently.
Staff support toddlers to develop good manners. They role model polite behaviour, saying
'please' and 'thank you' to their friends.
Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement
The curriculum design is weak, and leaders have not had sufficient oversight of what
children are learning. Without effective leaders, staff have lost confidence in their abilities
and cannot explain sufficiently how their teaching helps children to progress. Staff are not
always clear on what they expect children to learn. This means that children do not
experience teaching that helps them to build on what they already know. Sometimes, they
lack meaningful engagement and enjoyment in their learning.
Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not experience
suitable adaptations to support their development, and so they do not gain skills to help
them to progress. Staff do not support children's communication and language development
well enough. Children with SEND are not provided with tailored interactions to support
individual language development. Despite language acquisition being identified as an area
for children's development, children are either not spoken to or asked questions that are too
complex for them to understand. The curriculum is not ambitious for all children and results
in children being upset and disinterested.
Inclusion Urgent improvement
Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are not provided with
focused support to enable them to engage or develop skills. Strategies put in place to
support children who require additional help to engage in learning are not consistently used.
For example, children with communication and language delay are not supported to ensure
that they understand expectations of them, nor are instructions broken down. Individual
opportunities to develop language are not in place, and staff do not role model
developmentally appropriate language. Staff move children around the setting without any
explanation about what is happening or why. Children become upset, as this is confusing
and inappropriate for them.
Occasionally, staff can identify if there are any concerns in children's development.
However, they are not supported by leaders to create plans to begin to narrow the gaps for

these children. This lack of action towards developing and meeting children's learning
needs, particularly communication and language, impacts on the progress children make.
Leaders do not have systems in place to ensure that those children who are eligible for
additional funding receive this. Additional funding, such as the early years pupil premium,
has not been used effectively to assist with some children's next steps.
Leadership and governance Urgent improvement
Following a recent visit from Ofsted, leaders have not completed all actions raised and have
not acted in the children's best interests.
Leaders do not have a suitable understanding of what they need to do to improve. They
know what it is that they want the children to learn and how this should be delivered, but this
is not done in practice as their assessment of the provision is not accurate. Staff do not have
regular supervisions. As a result, training opportunities are not targeted to help support their
practice or build on the knowledge and skills of the staff team. This impacts on the
experiences the children receive. Where staff raise concerns about the setting, such as the
baby room garden, leaders do not prioritise these. This impacts on the staff's ability to
provide children with access to garden space that meets their learning and development
needs.
Leaders do support staff's emotional wellbeing and have regular discussions with staff to
ask if there is anything that they can do to further support them. Leaders and staff engage
with parents. They share some information about how they can support their children at
home, for example guidance on potty training.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Leaders have failed to exercise adequate oversight of the quality of learning and teaching
they provide for children. Children who need additional support with their learning do not
benefit from consistent opportunities to make steady progress from their starting points.
Leaders have failed to ensure that staff check the progress of children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. This means that staff do not accurately
identify or plan for areas in which children need further support. As a result, children's
learning needs are not met. Leaders do not have the required knowledge to support staff
with recognising when children have gaps in their learning and development.

Leaders have not ensured that there is an effective curriculum in place to ensure that all
children make progress in their learning and development. Children do not have consistent
opportunities to build on what they already know as staff do not sequence their learning
effectively. Leaders do not ensure that there is consistently high-quality teaching across the
setting. As a result, children do not have access to a highly ambitious curriculum. Leaders
are unable to reflect on the weaknesses within the setting and are not able to support the
setting to make progress and influence change. Where staff discuss concerns with leaders,
such as the suitability of the baby garden, this is not prioritised. This impacts on the
experiences staff are able to offer children.
Overall, children access activities that staff plan based on their observations of their
interests. Babies enjoy the sensory experience of exploring coloured rice. Staff talk to
children about the different textures and narrate their play to expose them to language. Staff
across the setting have positive relationships with children. They are happy to come into the
setting and seek out familiar adults to play with.
Next steps
The provider is not meeting the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Ofsted
intends to take enforcement action.
We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to have taken the
following actions by the assigned date:
Action Completion Date
ensure that supervisions are completed in line with the
setting procedures and that they offer staff the
opportunity to discuss any issues, including child
protection concerns
20/03/2026
take action to ensure that practitioners undertake
appropriate training and professional development
opportunities to build on their knowledge and skills
20/03/2026
implement effective arrangements to support children
with special educational needs and/or disabilities
20/03/2026
To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage the provider must take the
following action by the assigned date:
Action Completion Date

Inspector:
Lisa Smith
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2721420
Address:
2 Roman Road
Luton
LU3 2QT
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 17/02/2023
Registered person: Acorn Day Care Limited
Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 16:00
Local authority: Luton
Action Completion Date
improve the curriculum and consider what children need
to learn next, particularly to help them manage disputes
independently and make suitable progress in their
communication and language skills
20/04/2026
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, the quality manager and external
professionals, and environmental health inspectors who visited 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 23 February 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
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.

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