URN 2651551 · Inspected 2026-05-13 · Published 2026-06-22 · Inspector: Christine Ward
The Old Station Nursery, Dollman Farm Unique reference number (URN): 2651551 Address: Dollman Farm, Houlton, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV23 1AL Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 12/08/2021 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: The Old Station Nursery Limited Inspection report: 13 May 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. Expected standard Achievement Expected standard Children at the nursery generally make progress from their starting points. They sequentially learn the skills they need to prepare them for their move to school. Children are excited by the activities on offer, which helps them to engage in learning and play. They act out pretend scenarios, reliving experiences they have had. This helps them to make sense of the world around them. Children become skilled at communicating with one another. They learn to express their thoughts and ideas and start to negotiate with one another during play. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make progress in their communication and language development. They learn to verbally express their needs and start to make friends with others. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard The nursery environment is busy, but has a calm feel. Children display appropriate behaviour and demonstrate that they understand what is expected of them. They follow routines well and respond to staff's instructions. Staff gently remind children of nursery rules and expectations, when needed. Children learn to play well together and cooperate. They take turns and show understanding of how their behaviour affects others. Leaders understand the importance of children attending regularly. They apply flexibility where possible so that children who face barriers to their learning can develop healthy attendance patterns. Children generally develop positive relationships with staff and their peers. They show that they feel safe as they go to staff for reassurance and comfort. Staff take time to give children cuddles and comfort when they need it. This supports children's emotional development. Children typically develop positive attitudes to learning. Across the nursery, children are keen to participate in the learning opportunities on offer. They happily play with sand, pushing cars along to make tracks. They show interest in what others are doing and join in with different activities. Staff encourage children to join group play and help them to work together. For example, during mathematics activities, children take it in turns to use tweezers to move coloured balls onto boards to create patterns. Children maintain attention as they wait for their turn. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Leaders and staff understand the unique curriculum designed by the nursery group. The curriculum is generally implemented well across the nursery, although there are times when children are not engaged in purposeful activities. This is a consequence of staff workload and staff shortages. Staff work hard to maintain a stimulating and exciting environment where children are keen to learn. They generally interact well with children. They plan activities that are inclusive for all children and help them to learn new skills. There are opportunities for children to practise the skills they have learned, such as making marks with chalks, outdoors. Children repeat letter sounds and words they know and staff write them on Needs attention outdoor surfaces. This helps children to make connections between letter sounds and written symbols. Staff generally understand children's individual levels of development and use assessment to decide what they need to learn next. They understand children's interests and incorporate these into the activities they plan. Staff help children to discover a love of books. From babies through to pre-school, children have access to books. They freely choose stories that are familiar to them and listen as staff read. Children recall parts of stories and ask questions about characters in the books. Babies point to pictures and show their enjoyment, as staff use gestures and facial expressions to capture their interest. Inclusion Expected standard Staff identify needs in children and take action to put support in place that helps them to make progress. Leaders make contact with external agencies at the earliest opportunity to ensure children receive their funding entitlements. Children have individual support plans that are shared with all staff and parents. Parents of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) comment that they meet regularly with staff and are kept up to date with children's development. Leaders and staff make links with their area SEND team and welcome their input into support plans. Those responsible for coordinating support for children are well trained and knowledgeable about external processes. They have an oversight of each child and are confident about their individual needs. They ensure staff understand how to implement support plans, so that children learn to develop the skills they need to. This helps to get children the support they need at the right time. Staff generally understand children's needs, and ensure that any activities they plan can be accessed by all children. Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention The pressures on staff at the nursery are having an impact on children's welfare and wellbeing. Staff struggle to complete routine tasks and to consistently implement high-quality learning opportunities for children. Temporary staff are given reduced responsibilities, which means that permanent staff experience increased workloads. Leaders have started to put measures in place to mitigate this. Children are happy at the nursery and develop relationships with staff. However, there are times when children's key persons are given other responsibilities or moved between rooms to cover staff shortages. This makes it difficult for staff to maintain the attachments they have developed with children and sometimes leaves children without a specific key person. Consequently, children's needs are not consistently-well supported. Additionally, there are times when staff do not notice children using the toilet, so important hygiene practices, such as handwashing, are not consistently promoted. Children show that they feel safe at nursery, demonstrating enjoyment during their play. Staff adjust their approaches to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children eat healthy meals and have daily opportunities to play outdoors and be physically active. Staff provide comfort to children when needed and ensure babies, in particular, are cuddled and nurtured. Staff understand children's individual routines, settle them to sleep calmly and ensure they check on them frequently. Leadership and governance Needs attention Leaders have recently appointed a new manager to the nursery. They are working together to ensure practices in the nursery rapidly improve and standards for children's care and education meet the high expectations they have. Some parents and carers do not receive regular feedback about their child's day. They do not always know who their child's key person is, when this has changed, and they do not receive some important information about their child's care, in a timely way. Leaders understand this is a breach of registration requirements and have plans in place to ensure this improves. Those responsible for special educational needs and/or disabilities ensure they meet regularly with parents of the children they support and share important information with them. Most staff are generally happy in their roles. They are aware of important nursery procedures such as what to do in the event of an emergency. However, some staff feel an increasing pressure to complete daily tasks and are not always supported effectively, to manage this well. Leaders recognise that arrangements for supervision of staff have not been implemented as intended. This has left staff without the support and mentoring they need to support their wellbeing. Leaders have started to address these weaknesses, and recognise that this will take time to improve and become established. 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 The nursery has experienced a turbulent time recently regarding staffing levels. Leaders have responded to this and put measures in place so that children can continue to attend. The challenges they have faced however, have had an impact on staff workload and children's wellbeing. Sometimes there are interruptions between children transitioning from one key person to another. This disrupts how well children develop deep and meaningful connections with designated staff. In addition, parents and carers have not been given some key information about their children. Leaders recognise that there are weaknesses in practice, such as needing to strengthen the arrangements for staff supervision. They are working to recruit more permanent members of staff and have recently appointed a new manager. Children demonstrate that they are happy at the nursery. They show confidence in the environment and are keen to engage in the activities provided. Staff plan activities that children are interested in and teach them skills they need to prepare for their next stage of learning. Regular attendance is promoted to build healthy habits for when children move on to school. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are generally supported well. Staff understand their needs and know what they need to learn next, so that they make progress. Children enjoy spending time outdoors. They develop skills such as climbing and balancing as they use large equipment. New children generally settle well. Staff gather information about children's routines, development and health and medical information. This means that staff generally understand how to meet children's needs. Inspector: Christine Ward About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2651551 Next steps 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 improve partnerships with parents and carers so that they receive the required information about their children 30/06/2026 ensure the key-person system is effective in building relationships between staff, children and their parents and carers, so that children's needs are consistently met 30/06/2026 improve supervision arrangements so that staff receive, mentoring and coaching that helps them carry out their roles effectively and supports their wellbeing 30/06/2026 About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, special educational needs coordinators, children, 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. We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we received about the provider. The provider will be able to give parents further information about this. Address: Dollman Farm Houlton Rugby Warwickshire CV23 1AL Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 12/08/2021 Registered person: The Old Station Nursery Limited Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00 Local authority: Warwickshire Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 13 May 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 99 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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