Lime Tree Day Nursery Cossington Road

A garden with an undercover classroom, a vegetable patch and a soft-surface baby area gives Cossington Road much of its character. This Sileby nursery combines a two-storey building with outdoor space designed for different stages of childhood. Weekly cooking with the chef adds another practical experience for older children. There is plenty here for families who want learning to involve making, moving and doing.

Lime Tree Day Nursery Cossington Road takes children from 2 months to school age and has 45 places in total, spread across four rooms. At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged its safeguarding arrangements effective. The important qualification was about conversation: staff needed to give children more opportunity to respond and practise exchanges.

Rooms and Ages

The four rooms cater for babies, toddlers, preschool children and children approaching school age. That gives the setting separate spaces for different stages, rather than treating the whole age range as one group. The building extends over two storeys, while the garden includes a soft-surface baby area. For parents choosing care for a very young child, that outdoor provision is a useful part of the offer.

Learning and Activities

EYFS-based learning is planned around children's interests, with play supporting communication, physical skills and growing independence. These areas were visible in September 2025 through new vocabulary, ball and dough activities, and children preparing snacks. The framework is the foundation of the nursery day, while the chef's weekly cooking classes give older children a practical addition. Cooking brings an everyday task into their learning, rather than keeping food solely at the meal table.

In September 2025, independence was built into ordinary routines. Children could help themselves to water at drink stations and use paint dispensers during activities. They also helped prepare snacks and served their own food. These are small tasks with a clear purpose: children get to make choices and practise doing things for themselves.

Physical activity covered both large movements and hand skills in September 2025. Younger children practised kicking and throwing balls, alongside manipulating dough. Older children tackled garden obstacle courses involving climbing, balance and jumps, with staff showing them how to manage the activity safely. The day included opportunities to practise movement at different stages of development.

Language remains the area to examine most closely. In September 2025, staff introduced vocabulary through play, including pretend pizza-making, but sometimes moved on before children had enough time to answer. Hearing new words and taking part in a conversation are different experiences. The improvement point concerned the second of these.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outdoor play includes free-flow access, allowing children to choose between indoors and outdoors. The garden combines astro turf with a sensory garden, mud kitchen and play house; the undercover outdoor classroom provides another space for activities outside. This is a substantial part of the nursery's everyday offer, rather than a single outdoor play surface.

The vegetable patch adds growing to the outdoor possibilities. Alongside the weekly cooking classes, it gives families two concrete examples of practical learning to weigh up. The physical provision is one of the clearest reasons to consider this branch: it accommodates babies' outdoor play as well as older children's more active exploration.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person, giving families an identified practitioner within the nursery team. The Family App carries photographs, activity updates and a learning journal. Parents therefore have a way to follow both everyday experiences and the developing picture of their child's learning.

In September 2025, staff helped children manage moves between rooms and responded promptly when children were distressed. Daily updates were accompanied by guidance for parents on supporting development at home. For families thinking beyond the first room their child will join, the attention to internal transitions is a useful detail.

Calm adult responses also featured in September 2025. Staff encouraged children to work through minor disagreements and make decisions during snack time, rather than intervening immediately in every exchange. That gives a concrete picture of how social learning was handled at that point.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

An on-site SENDCo is supported by the group's SEND team, providing a route for discussing additional needs. At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND received effective individual support and that healthcare plans helped staff meet children's medical and dietary needs. That judgement gives substance to the support arrangements, while remaining tied to the inspection date.

In September 2025, bathroom sinks at different heights helped children wash their own hands, and a ramp improved access. These adaptations connected inclusion with ordinary routines. They made participation a matter of the physical environment as well as adult assistance.

Fresh meals are prepared each day by the nursery's on-site chef. Food preparation and the older children's weekly cooking classes both take place within the setting.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates throughout the year and closes on Bank Holidays. For working families, the closing time and those holiday closures are the practical details to build into care arrangements.

Getting There

The address is 231 Cossington Road, Sileby, Loughborough LE12 7RR. Branch enquiries can be made on 01509 812 300 or by email to cossingtonroad@limetreedaynursery.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered: 30 hours for eligible working families from 9 months to school age, 15 hours for all 3 and 4 year olds, and 15 hours for eligible 2 year olds. The working-family entitlement starts in the term after the child turns 9 months, with January, April and September named as the starting terms. Eligibility conditions matter when planning which part of an attendance arrangement funding will cover.

• Conversation practice. The September 2025 improvement point concerned giving children time to respond. During a tour, ask how staff now encourage children to sustain an exchange, alongside introducing vocabulary.
• The youngest children's day. Babies have a soft-surface outdoor area within a two-storey setting. Use a visit to discuss how your child's daily routine would work between their room and outdoor play.
• Funding and the total bill. The branch accepts several funded entitlements. Before agreeing an arrangement, ask for a written quotation covering the attendance pattern, the treatment of meals and non-food consumables, and any joining charges.

Cossington Road suits families who value daily outdoor choice and practical learning, with the baby play area, vegetable patch and weekly cooking giving that preference substance. A key person and the Family App provide identifiable points of contact and communication. The September 2025 conversation finding is the issue to explore alongside those strengths. For parents whose routines fit weekday, year-round opening, this is a setting with a clear outdoor emphasis and useful opportunities for children to practise independence.