Ashton Green Pre School & Out of School Club

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders and staff demonstrate highly inclusive practice. They maintain high expectations for all children and ensure the curriculum remains ambitious while being skilfully adapted to meet individual needs. As a result, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those in receipt of additional funding, such as early years pupil premium, make secure progress from their starting points, particularly in communication, emotional regulation, confidence and independence.

Staff know children extremely well and use this deep understanding to remove barriers to learning swiftly and effectively. For example, staff support children with SEND to identify when they are becoming dysregulated. Consequently, some children with SEND independently access sensory spaces and specialist equipment to regulate when they feel unsettled or need a moment of calm. Children with SEND are fully included in daily routines and group experiences. They play confidently alongside their peers and engage positively with familiar adults. Children are increasingly able to communicate their needs. They display this by taking adults by the hand to support them to use visual communication boards. This means children can be understood and share their wants and needs. This helps reduce frustration and gives children more independence. Support is consistently sensitive, timely and purposeful, enabling children to participate meaningfully without reducing expectations.

Leaders work closely with a wide range of professionals, such as dietitians, speech therapists and specialist teachers, to ensure support is coordinated and effective. This collaborative approach ensures children's needs are identified early and consistently met well. Leaders and staff monitor the progress of all children and regularly review strategies to ensure they remain effective. Leaders ensure any funding is spent with the maximum impact on children's outcomes.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have designed a clear and coherent curriculum that supports children to make secure progress from their starting points. The curriculum is thoughtfully adapted to meet the needs of all children. Staff use their knowledge of what children already know and can do to plan activities.

Staff plan a broad range of purposeful activities which support children's physical development. Children learn to ride bicycles and scooters. Staff support them to use utensils such as juicers and mashers to make 'potions' in the garden. Children build on their mathematical language and recognition through play dough activities with different shaped cutters. Staff support children to recognise different emotions and learn how their friends may feel. Children enjoy being creative through mark-making activities, which staff support and encourage. Staff use opportunities to introduce new vocabulary as children play, for example they teach children that the water around a castle is called a moat. Children show confidence in their learning and readily explain what they are doing. They show imagination and creativity as they talk about their dragon breathing fire.

Although staff regularly introduce new vocabulary during children's play, not all adults use every interaction as an opportunity to further develop teaching and learning. There is some variability in the quality of interactions. While some staff use skilful questioning and sustained shared thinking to extend learning effectively, others do not yet consistently use open-ended questions to deepen children's language and thinking further.

Achievement: Expected standard

All children make progress from their individual starting points. They develop the foundational knowledge, skills and confidence they need for future learning. Children show curiosity and engagement. They sustain focus in activities they choose and demonstrate pride in their achievements. For example, they proudly talk to staff about a hotel they have made from building blocks. Children become increasingly confident.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make particularly swift progress in their emotional regulation as they are supported by targeted strategies and specialist resources. Children manage routines independently and communicate their needs effectively. They confidently know what activities and resources are available to them and engage quickly with their friends. Children are well prepared for their next stage of learning, as staff have strong partnerships with local schools and plan thoughtful transitions.

However, although children make secure progress from their starting points, their achievement is not yet consistently deepened across all areas of learning. The variability in the quality of adult-child interactions occasionally limits opportunities to deepen children's language, thinking and learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Children demonstrate consistently positive behaviour and attitudes to learning. They are kind, respectful and considerate of one another and show strong social skills when playing together. Staff ensure that clear routines and expectations are embedded securely and are well understood by all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, children listen carefully, follow instructions confidently and move calmly between activities.

Staff manage behaviour skilfully and consistently. They explain expectations clearly and help children understand why rules are important, rather than simply enforcing them. This supports children to develop a strong understanding of right and wrong and learn how to keep themselves and others safe. For example, staff explain why running indoors is unsafe and help children understand the potential consequences, which children respond to positively.

Staff model positive behaviour and are role models to children. They praise children when they show kindness, patience and cooperation. Children take responsibility for their environment, tidying independently, caring for resources and showing pride in their setting. Staff consistently reinforce the importance of being kind to others, and support children as they learn to share and take turns. Leaders promote attendance at the setting and support families to understand the importance of regular attendance and punctuality.

Children consistently behave well and show positive attitudes to learning. They are happy, settled and engaged, which allows them to focus on learning and play.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Children's welfare and wellbeing are prioritised consistently and effectively. Children experience a calm, nurturing and emotionally secure environment where they feel safe, valued and confident. Staff develop strong and trusting relationships with children, which are evident consistently. Children readily seek reassurance, comfort and support from familiar adults, which enables them to regulate their emotions and re-engage in play and learning quickly. Staff respond quickly when children are upset, offering comfort and time to talk about feelings. All children are invited to, and encouraged to, participate in wider group activities with their peers.

Staff establish positive routines for hygiene, self-care and physical wellbeing. Children are supported to wash their hands, blow their noses and manage their toileting needs independently. This helps promote their self-confidence and independence. Staff actively promote safety. They explain risks clearly and help children understand how to keep themselves and others safe. For example, children learn that it is important to pick up building bricks from the floor to prevent their friends tripping up or falling on them.

Staff celebrate diversity and weave cultural exploration into play. Children confidently talk about their different clothing, which they bought on a recent holiday. They are happy to talk to others about different cultural practices which are celebrated in their home, such as regular prayer time. Children demonstrate high levels of wellbeing. They are happy, settled and confident, which enables them to thrive. Children know they are valued and feel a strong sense of belonging, and respect for difference.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders demonstrate a secure understanding of the setting's context and the needs of its community. They place strong emphasis on children's welfare, inclusion and safeguarding. Leaders pride themselves on being a support network for the families of the children who attend. They ensure that staff feel confident to have a positive impact on all children, particularly the most disadvantaged.

Leaders foster a supportive staff culture. Staff feel valued, supported and able to access training opportunities. Leaders ensure that staff's workload is manageable and their wellbeing is prioritised. They engage openly and reflectively. Leaders demonstrate honesty about strengths and areas for development. They ensure that partnership working with parents is effective, particularly for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Parents praise the communication and support the setting provides.

Leaders provide feedback on teaching practice through staff supervision and are attentive to staff wellbeing. However, leadership oversight of teaching practice is not yet sharp enough. Although supervisions take place, these discussions do not yet consistently identify precise, individual development targets focused on improving teaching practice. As a result, not all staff fully understand what they need to do to raise the quality of their practice even further.