Ark Foundry Road Nursery School

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders and staff implement early intervention without delay to help children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to progress well from their starting points in learning. This includes identifying children's needs, putting targeted plans in place and monitoring the progress children make. Staff work with other professionals and parents to promote the best interests of the children. For children who are known or previously known to social care, leaders and staff make adaptations to their practice to promote children's safety. This includes maintaining children's privacy and not sharing or displaying images of children with others on the internet. Leaders are acutely aware of changes in children's lives that may have an impact on their learning and development. They support staff to respond swiftly, for example adapting the curriculum when a child is expecting a new sibling to help children prepare for this. Leaders use the tools available to them to make sure families who need extra help and support receive this, so that safeguarding concerns do not develop or escalate.

Additional funding that some children receive is spent appropriately to meet their needs. This includes purchasing role-play equipment to encourage children's engagement with their peers, helping to develop their social skills. Furthermore, enhanced staff ratios are offered to provide children with tailored learning to help them progress in their development. Information about how any additional funding is spent is shared with parents to help them understand how the money is used to benefit their children's care and learning.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Generally, leaders and staff implement the curriculum effectively to help children progress in their learning. Staff use books throughout the nursery to promote children's literacy skills, language and imagination. For instance, babies look at images and listen as staff use simple language when they share books. Staff use expression in their voices when they read books to toddlers, helping to keep them engaged. Pre-school children are invited to act out stories they listen to. This helps them understand and recall events in stories.

Typically, staff's teaching helps children to progress well. They plan activities to help build on children's confidence and creative skills. Staff provide children with clay to manipulate with their fingers, supporting their physical development. Children talk about their creations, showing confidence to share their thoughts and views with staff. Staff support children to develop their mathematical skills. For instance, they ask children how many pieces of clay they have and support them to understand the number that comes next. Sometimes, staff's interactions are not of a consistently high quality to help all children, including those who face barriers to their learning, to make the progress they are capable of. For example, sometimes, staff do not give children time to think, answer questions and use descriptive language in their play. Furthermore, occasionally, staff do not support children to build on what they already know and can do.

Achievement: Expected standard

On the whole, children achieve well and learn skills for the future. Toddlers complete inset puzzles, negotiating which way to turn puzzle pieces to make them fit, which helps to develop their problem-solving skills. Pre-school children confidently show their understanding of numbers as they count how many objects they have. They learn how to estimate and balance as they carefully balance baskets on their heads and add fruit. Children persevere and practise these skills. This helps children to become confident to show staff and their peers what they have achieved.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) progress very well from their starting points in learning. They develop their communication skills with others and are able to explain why they feel a certain way or if they need help from staff. Children with SEND develop their concentration, enabling them focus on tasks to promote their safety. This includes holding onto a member of staff's hand when moving from the nursery to a vehicle.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Overall, leaders and staff promote children's behaviour well. Babies receive verbal praise from staff, helping to raise their self-esteem. Toddlers receive a 'high five' from staff when they remember to put tissues in the bin. Staff identify individual strategies for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to help manage their behaviour and emotions. This includes using sand timers to give children visual prompts to support their understanding of when to wait and take their turn to play with toys and resources.

Leaders share information with parents to help them understand the importance of children attending regularly. They recognise that this helps to provide consistent routines for children and promotes their welfare.

Children show positive attitudes as they follow routines that staff embed in the nursery. For instance, when toddlers finish playing outdoors, they are provided with minimal support to take off their coats and hang them in the allocated spaces. Staff promote a positive culture of care and respect. They listen to children's views and respond appropriately. Children are encouraged to join in group activities, such as visiting woodland to explore nature together. This helps children to form relationships with staff and their peers.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders continually review policies to make sure children's wellbeing and welfare is at the heart of provision. For example, they have worked with staff to embed new procedures to help sustain a more eco-friendly setting. Developments have included the provision on new recycling bins in each room. Staff teach children about the importance of recycling as well as other changes they can make, like turning the lights off. This helps children to develop lifelong habits that will benefit themselves and others.

Leaders regularly reflect on how children's wellbeing and welfare is promoted and make adaptations to benefit children's overall development. For instance, lower sinks have been installed to help babies independently wash their hands. This means that even the youngest children who attend the setting can be involved in managing their care needs. Staff support children to learn how they can keep themselves safe and healthy. This includes providing children with opportunities to learn how to clean their teeth to promote oral health. Staff support pre-school children to understand how they can keep themselves safe when they use technological devices. For example, staff read children stories to help them identify and manage potential risks when they use the internet.

Leaders and staff gather information from parents about children's care routines, their likes, and their dislikes when they first start attending. This enables them to follow the same routines for children as at home, such as at sleep times. This promotes children's emotional wellbeing and helps new children to settle quickly. Leaders make sure the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs an/or disabilities, are consistently met. For example, they stock specialist foods that they know some children with neurodivergent needs prefer to eat.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Generally, leaders support staff's practice well. They identify targets together to help build on staff's knowledge and skills. Staff extend their professional development to help them support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This helps them to recognise how they can support children to regulate their emotions and release physical energy. However, further support for staff has not been identified to help raise the quality of teaching to the highest standard to support all children make consistently secure progress.

Leaders and staff work well in partnership with parents. They keep parents informed about their children's care routines and learning. Information is shared with parents about how they can further support children with SEND. For example, they direct parents to attend local community centres to receive support for their children's speaking skills.

Leaders reflect on practice and identify improvements to benefit children's learning experiences. For instance, new equipment has been purchased to challenge children's physical skills. Staff feel supported in their wellbeing. They have regular discussions with leaders and feel listened to. Leader's use ideas and suggestions from staff to drive development.