Little Acorns Day Nursery (Springfield)

Little Acorns Day Nursery (Springfield)
Unique reference number (URN): 2519737
Address: Throstlenest Avenue, Wigan, Lancashire, WN6 7AS
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 13/02/2019
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: Mercer, Annette
Inspection report: 27 April 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
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention
Leaders do not ensure that staff consistently implement the curriculum for personal, social
and emotional development. For example, staff do not model good manners and encourage
children to use these, particularly at lunchtime. Staff remind children about some
expectations for behaviour, such as sharing and turn-taking but do not help them to
understand what this means. For example, staff ask children with special educational needs
and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language to 'wait their turn'
and 'share the cars'. They are not supported to do this in ways they understand and,
therefore, become fractious and upset.
Children have lovely relationships with the staff team and clearly feel happy and secure at
the nursery. Generally, children know what is happening throughout the day and follow the
daily routine. Staff have started to use some visuals to help children with transitions, but this
is not yet consistent. Children know that they need to wash their hands before eating and
when they have been outside. Staff in the older baby room use the 'tidy-up song' to help
babies learn about what is expected of them. Babies respond instinctively to the song and
help staff to tidy away the toys. The routines for settling in new children are effective.
Leaders ensure a bespoke package of support for new families to ensure that children are
given the time they need to settle into nursery. This promotes the wellbeing of new children.
Achievement Urgent improvement
Not all children make progress across the areas of learning. Children who speak English as
an additional language are not supported to develop a good grasp of English. Children do
not develop play skills appropriate to their age. They flock to adult-led activities with
excitement but do not demonstrate skills, such as sharing and turn-taking. This has a
negative effect on some children's social skills. Furthermore, not all children develop their
mathematical skills in the correct order in preparation for their move to school.
Children in the baby room develop early language skills, such as repeating single words and
babbling back and forth with staff. They learn the actions to familiar songs and join in with
rhymes. Children across the nursery have appropriate physical skills. They show good
balance and coordination when using the obstacle course and climb confidently.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Urgent improvement
Leaders do not always recognise when policies and procedures are not working or being
implemented. The key-person system does not support children's individual needs when
staff are absent. Remaining staff do not know some children well, such as those with English
as an additional language. They do not know their next steps or provide opportunities for

them to further their learning. This does not provide consistency for children with barriers to
their learning.
Good hygiene procedures are not followed consistently. Staff wipe multiple children's noses
without washing their own or children's hands. When children drop their cup at lunchtime,
these are returned for children to drink from. Furthermore, items that are appropriate for
children to chew are left on the sandy floor and then returned to them. These practices do
not promote children's good health and wellbeing or provide them with clear messages
about hygiene.
Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement
The curriculum is not well implemented for older children, particularly for those who have
barriers to their learning. Although leaders have some ideas of what they want children to
learn, this is narrowly focused and does not cover the breadth of the early years foundation
stage, particularly aspects of personal, social and emotional development. The curriculum
for outdoors is particularly weak. Children spend a lot of time in free play but have limited
resources or purposeful interactions to support them. For instance, there are no resources
for the doll house, limited resources for the kitchen and the few books available are ripped.
The adult-led activities provided lack purpose and are often pitched incorrectly for children's
age and stage of development. This does not help children to engage and build on their
existing skills and knowledge.
The quality of teaching varies considerably across the team. Staff do not adapt their
teaching to help children with barriers to learning, to access the curriculum. For example,
they try to engage children who speak limited English in role-play activities, with no
resources or visuals. Staff mistake children's smiles and compliant nods for understanding.
This puts this group of children at a considerable disadvantage.
Staff promote children's communication and language development well in the baby and
toddler room. Staff sing to children throughout the day, narrate what they are doing and use
new words to enhance their vocabulary. Staff encourage babies to join in with action rhymes
and copy words they are familiar with. For some children, staff in the pre-school room use
sign language, however, this is sporadic.
Inclusion Urgent improvement
Leaders do not recognise when support for some children with special educational needs
and/or disabilities (SEND) and those with other barriers to their learning is not effective. Staff
do not ensure they have the correct resources and equipment to implement children's
support plans. They do not consider targets from key professionals, such as speech and
language therapists. Leaders do not ensure that staff get to know children who speak
English as an additional language (EAL) well. Staff do not adapt their teaching to help this
group of children gain a good grasp of English. Consequently, there are groups of children,
such as those with SEND and EAL, who spend a lot of time not engaged in purposeful
learning.
Leaders do work closely with the local authority inclusion team to access additional funding
for some children. This is used appropriately to offer children one-to-one support throughout

their session. Leaders use assessments to identify gaps in children's learning and make
timely referrals to the inclusion team. The staff team are beginning to use visual references
and timetables. However, this is very inconsistent and not always used effectively. Leaders
have highlighted this as an area they are currently working on.
Leadership and governance Urgent improvement
Since the last inspection, leaders have acted on the previous actions set. However, further
breaches of requirements have now been identified. There have been some changes to the
leadership team recently with some of the team still being new. Although leaders conduct
supervision meetings with staff each half term, these are not effective. There are
considerable weaknesses in the quality of teaching of some staff members that have gone
unnoticed. Leaders observe practice and identify some targets for staff development, but
these are not remembered by staff and, therefore, not acted upon. Staff complete mandatory
training, such as safeguarding and first aid, but training beyond this is limited and not
focused on improving the quality of teaching and interactions. This does not help staff to
build on their skills and knowledge.
The procedures for working in partnership with parents are not embedded consistently.
Leaders offer parents' evenings, stay-and-play sessions and update their online application
with children's development. However, not all parents know what children are working on,
who their child's key person is or how they can extend learning at home. Furthermore,
leaders have not considered how to work more cohesively with parents who do not attend
these sessions. This hinders the continuity of care and learning for children.
Leaders work hard to integrate children into the local community. They take children for
visits to the local care home to share their experiences with the elderly community
members. Children visit the local lending library to borrow and exchange books, to promote
their literacy development. This helps children to learn about the community in which they
live.
Compulsory Childcare Register requirements
This setting has not 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 not 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 and well settled at the nursery, however, they have a variable learning
experience. Younger children, such as babies and toddlers, are better supported than older
children. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those with barriers
to their learning are not supported well enough to access the curriculum. This hinders the
progress they make across the areas of learning. Although leaders understand some of the
things they want children to learn, the curriculum lacks depth and breadth. Furthermore, not
all staff have the skills and knowledge needed to implement the curriculum effectively. They
do not recognise when they need to adapt their practice to support children who speak
English as an additional language or to help children learn about sharing and taking turns.
Younger children play well alongside one another and have positive relationships with staff
and their peers. However, the key-person system is not well embedded for all children. This
means, at times, some children spend a lot of time unsupported in free play when their key
person is absent. Overall, children behave well and understand the daily routine. Leaders
work with parents to address issues, such as attendance and punctuality, to ensure children
get the most from their nursery session. However, some gaps in parent partnership means
that the two-way flow of information is not embedded.
Children in the baby and toddler room engage well and have a positive attitude to learning.
They practise skills, such as using a spoon in the sensory tray and then transfer this skill at
lunchtime, when feeding themselves. Children enjoy taking part in circle time and guessing
which animal is in the box. They sing along with familiar songs and copy new words that
staff model.

Next steps
The provider is not meeting the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and
Childcare Register 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
implement effective support for children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities
15/05/2026
implement robust key-person procedures to support
children's individual needs and next steps
15/05/2026
ensure staff implement good hygiene practices and
teach children why these are important
15/05/2026
implement a robust programme of professional
development to improve the quality of teaching and
develop staff skills and knowledge
15/05/2026
ensure a robust two-way flow of information between
parents and nursery to provide continuity in children's
care and learning
15/05/2026
To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the
provider must take the following actions by the assigned date:
Action Completion Date
implement a broad and ambitious curriculum that
considers all areas of learning
08/06/2026
provide effective support for children who speak English
as an additional language to learn and reach a good
standard of English
08/06/2026
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

Inspector:
Kayte Farrell
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2519737
Address:
Throstlenest Avenue
Wigan
Lancashire
WN6 7AS
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 13/02/2019
Registered person: Mercer, Annette
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Local authority: Wigan
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 27 April 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
1 to 4
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.

Total number of places
40
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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