Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption The owner says the nursery is in an area with little cultural diversity

Ofsted has withdrawn a report which allegedly criticised a nursery in rural Lincolnshire for failing to teach toddlers about cultural diversity.

Town and Country Kiddies Nursery in Market Rasen was reportedly told its children were not learning about people who were "different to themselves".

The nursery was downgraded from "outstanding" to "good" by Ofsted.

The owner said the area was not very diverse and she felt that Ofsted had "unrealistic expectations".

An Ofsted spokeswoman said: "The regional director has spoken to the owner about her concerns and we have withdrawn the report while we review the case."

Before the report was taken back, Louise Davies told the Market Rasen Mail: "There are things they'd like us to do over and above - children having understanding of other people and different cultures.

"It comes with living in the community where there isn't a great deal of cultural and ethnic diversity.

"They're not seeing that on a day-to-day basis, unlike nurseries in London where they do have it on a day-to-day basis."

Different pictures

According to the paper, the Ofsted report, which had praised the nursery in other areas, began: "Staff do not provide enough opportunities for children to develop a strong sense of belonging at the nursery and to learn about people who are different to themselves."

Ms Davies said she had also been told that the nursery should feature more pictures of people from different ethnic backgrounds on the walls.

The early years foundation stage, which sets the framework for areas nurseries catering for under-fives must cover, says children should be helped to understand "the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment".

The move comes as England's schools inspectorate publishes its equality objectives.

It says: "In education inspections, inspectors will assess the extent to which the provider inspected gives due regard to relevant legal duties as set out in the Equality Act 2010."