BishopKen Montessori Nursery

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders and staff generally identify emerging needs promptly. They observe children's communication, social interaction, physical development, concentration and responses to sensory experiences. Staff discuss concerns with parents and carers, monitor children's progress and seek advice from relevant professionals when necessary.

Leaders and staff know how to use an appropriate approach to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning. Staff have supported children with autism by working with families, special educational needs coordinators from other nurseries, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and their local authority. Staff use visual timetables, picture cards and short instructions to help children understand routines and progress from having no spoken language to communicating with single words.

When children require additional help, leaders use available funding to provide individual support and suitable resources. Staff make reasonable adaptations, review the effectiveness of strategies and share relevant information with families and professionals. Training helps staff recognise possible developmental delays and understand how the progress check at age 2 informs early support.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders provide a curriculum that covers the different areas of learning and generally builds on children's interests, starting points and stages of development. Staff give suitable priority to communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development with reference to the ages of children attending. Planning provides an appropriate balance of adult-led experiences and child-initiated play.

Staff use observations and discussions about children's progress to decide what to teach next. During autumn activities, children explore and attach real leaves to make collages. Staff introduce the names of trees, such as sycamore, oak and silver birch, and explain how leaves change colour and fall. Children compare the leaves, repeat new vocabulary and connect the activity with seasonal changes they have noticed.

Staff generally model language, narrate play, repeat key words and give less-confident children time to respond. Leaders prioritise mathematics because they recognise that children need further support in this area. Staff generally weave mathematical ideas through routines and play, including counting, sorting, shape, size, capacity and positional language. They typically adapt experiences when children appear reluctant to participate. For example, staff add animal figures to sensory materials to sustain children's interest while retaining the intended learning.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children generally make suitable progress from their starting points, including in their communication and language skills. Children who face barriers to learning, including those learning English as an additional language, increasingly understand simple instructions, repeat familiar words and communicate their choices. Younger children develop greater independence in toileting, following routines and playing alongside others.

Children develop early literacy, mathematical and physical skills. They make marks with chalk and crayons, name colours and complete puzzles that develop concentration and hand-eye coordination. As children pour sand through sieves, they explore quantity, texture and cause and effect. Some children count to 10, recognise familiar shapes and sort objects according to their features.

These achievements typically prepare children for their next stage of learning. Children learn to communicate their needs, manage aspects of their self-care, persist with tasks and participate in shared experiences.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders have established generally understood expectations for behaviour. Staff model calm language, explain routines and praise children when they behave kindly or use good manners. Children feel secure with familiar adults and become increasingly confident when joining activities. Staff consider children's ages and stages of development and offer reassurance when children find it difficult to communicate or regulate their emotions.

Children generally cooperate and enjoy playing together. For example, they create ball games in the garden, take turns throwing and catching and encourage one another to continue. Staff calmly help children resolve minor disagreements and remind them to share resources. This approach supports positive relationships and encourages children to learn with others.

Leaders monitor attendance daily, record reasons for absence and contact families promptly when children do not arrive as expected. Flexible attendance arrangements help families use their funded entitlement, and children attend regularly.

Staff generally respond sensitively to children's individual needs. However, they do not consistently adapt established routines when children's needs or interests change, including during the settling-in period. Consequently, some children's engagement and sense of security are not fully supported.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Staff generally meet children's care needs and promote their health and wellbeing. Key staff gather detailed information before children start and offer flexible settling-in visits. Staff know children well, respond warmly when they need reassurance and help them recognise and manage their emotions. These secure relationships help children feel confident and ready to explore.

Staff help children understand personal safety. In the garden, staff show children how to use climbing and sliding equipment safely while allowing them to take suitable risks. Children enjoy fresh air each day and develop coordination, balance and strength through climbing, jumping and riding wheeled toys.

Staff supervise snack times closely and create a calm mealtime environment. Children sit with staff, use cutlery and pour water independently. Staff prepare fruit in pieces suitable for children's ages and remind them to chew and finish eating before leaving the table. Children wash their hands with soap and learn that this removes germs. Staff also teach children about oral hygiene and provide nutritious food. However, staff do not consistently explain how nutritious foods benefit children's bodies. This reduces children's understanding of why healthy choices matter.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders generally understand the provision's strengths and priorities for improvement. The nursery is currently operating with small numbers of children on roll and staff. Leaders have adjusted sessions and planning to respond more flexibly to families and make decisions that prioritise children's safety, care and learning.

Staff say that leaders support their wellbeing. Termly supervision meetings enable staff to discuss concerns and workload. Staff meetings and peer observations help the small team reflect on practice. Leaders focus professional development on behaviour management, special educational needs and/or disabilities and child development. This training helps staff understand the development of 2-year-olds, support children's emotional regulation and recognise possible developmental delays. Staff understand how the progress check at age 2, and the approaches specific to children with learning delays, inform early support. Leaders recognise that more-frequent check-ins would help them monitor individual professional-development targets more closely.

Leaders work with local schools, early years settings and specialist professionals to support continuity in children's care and learning. They maintain partnerships with parents and carers through daily conversations, secure messages and photos. Leaders use termly meetings and learning portfolios to keep families informed about children's progress. Staff also provide home-learning advice to help parents support children's language, enjoyment of stories, toileting and physical development.