A2Zlearning Centre

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders put embracing diversity at the core of the nursery's ethos. Celebrations, such as Christmas, are adapted in partnership with parents to ensure all children are included. Leaders have an in-depth knowledge of their community and the families who use their nursery and out-of-school club. They recognise that children have different starting points and life experiences and strive to minimise the barriers to their learning. For instance, some children speak English as an additional language, have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), or face other barriers. Leaders have considered how they can use additional funding to ensure gaps in children's learning and development close quickly, such as by providing extra staff for children who may need more targeted support. Staff are skilled in using strategies such as visual timetables and objects of reference to help children who struggle to communicate verbally.

Leaders work hard to promote community cohesion. They offer play-and-stay sessions for parents and deliver projects within schools, such as community fun days. They guide parents to local community schemes if they need extra help or advice. Families are involved in sports activities with their children. This promotes children's physical development and challenges obesity. Leaders monitor children's progress closely, constantly reviewing the support they need and assessing the impact of any adaptations made. For instance, they have additional staff to support children with SEND. Leaders take prompt action to engage other professionals, and support parents through assessment processes.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Staff use accurate assessments to check that children are meeting their expected milestones and highlight any strengths or gaps in their development. Leaders use the information to identify next steps in children's learning and to plan a broad and sequenced curriculum. In the main, the curriculum is implemented well to support children's positive progress. For example, staff introduce new words, such as giraffe and zebra, during children's play to support their developing vocabulary. Staff working with babies repeat children's sounds and encourage them to babble. This supports positive two-way interactions and helps babies develop their social skills. Staff use visual aids to help children who struggle to communicate using spoken language.

Staff teach children the relationship between letters and sounds. Children learn letter sounds and start to blend them into words. Staff introduce early mathematics when they demonstrate positional language, such as underneath and over. They discuss quantity when children fill and empty containers with different materials. On occasions, staff do not fully explore what children already know in order to broaden their thinking and further extend imaginative play, such as finding out how much they already know about dinosaurs.

Achievement: Expected standard

All children make positive progress and develop a wide range of skills in preparation for the move to school. Parents say their children demonstrate effective communication and mathematical skills through activities such as stories, nursery rhymes and construction. Children develop their social skills and build secure friendships when they learn to play with others, take turns and share. They become independent, such as learning to dress themselves, eating using a knife and fork and managing their self-care. Children use small tools during their play, which helps them to develop muscles in their hands and arms. They practise early writing skills when they use drawing materials. Babies have space to move, crawl and explore. They learn to pull themselves up, cruise and walk. Older children learn to risk assess for themselves during trips into the community, such as walking to the local library and using equipment in the park.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders work closely with parents to promote children's attendance. They provide additional services, such as helping parents who struggle with travel arrangements. Staff are excellent role models. They work well together as a team and provide a positive environment for children, fostering kindness, care and respect. Overall, children understand the expectations for their behaviour because staff give them age-appropriate guidance and remind them of rules and boundaries. Activities, such as reading 'The Colour Monster' story, help children begin to understand and manage their emotions.

Mealtimes are social occasions where staff sit with children and chat to them. Children make choices about what they eat, and staff support their understanding of portion size. Meals provided by the nursery are varied and nutritious. Staff use visual timetables to help children understand the structure of the day. In general, this contributes to their sense of safety and wellbeing. However, daily routines are not always planned well when different age groups are together. At times, toddlers are not sure what is expected of them. They wait too long, which results in them becoming restless. They get out of their chairs and drop cutlery on the floor. Older children who finish their meal quickly get up and leave the table, and staff have to remind them to come and sit down.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders provide an inclusive environment in which children's welfare and wellbeing are prioritised. They ensure children play and learn in a safe, hygienic and age-appropriate environment. Leaders ensure children are kept safe during outings. Parents value the nutritional meals that their children enjoy, commenting that they eat a wide variety of foods in nursery that often they do not eat at home. Staff find out children's individual needs from parents when children start in the nursery. Individual care routines, such as for food and sleep, reflect those children enjoy at home. For example, babies sleep in cosy cots where their sleep is monitored.

Children demonstrate they feel safe and secure through positive relationships and strong attachments with key staff. Children begin to develop an understanding of the importance of good health and hygiene. Through play and stories, staff support them to understand and manage their emotions. The staff work closely with other professionals to ensure children's individual needs are met, such as accessing early help, and supporting parents to access local community schemes if they need extra help or advice. Leaders help parents and older children to understand the risks of using online media.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders have a secure understanding of the nursery's strengths and areas for improvement. They have clear priorities for future improvement, such as building better partnerships with schools to ensure they are promoting school readiness as successfully as they can. Leaders are also keen to strengthen partnerships with health professionals and provide more services for children, such as baby massage and yoga. The provision of early years education and care is recent, so ideas are shared and tested by the staff team. Ongoing evaluation explores what works well and what might need to change.

Leaders seek the views of parents and carers in their ambitious drive for continual improvement. For example, they ensure all parents can access the information available to them, including those who have barriers to communication. Staff say that their wellbeing is promoted by leaders. Targeted training and opportunities to attain higher qualifications mean staff are building on their knowledge and skills to raise the quality of care and education for children. Leaders' partnership working with other professionals has a positive impact on children and keeps them safe.