Bright Horizons Crofton Day Nursery and Preschool

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders and staff demonstrate a deep commitment to understanding individual children's backgrounds. For example, staff proactively acknowledge children's home languages by ensuring they learn and use key phrases during interactions highly consistently. Staff routinely recognise children's need for their familiar comfort items. They ensure that children have access to these while they are settling in. Staff's highly considerate and nurturing approach successfully supports children's physical and emotional needs and allows for their smooth integration in to the nursery.

Leaders and staff understand their roles very clearly when supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning. They design individual learning plans and collaborate closely with families and specialists to ensure a unified approach. Through rigorous observations and assessments, staff quickly spot emerging gaps in development. They then create well-targeted activities that successfully drive children's progress wholeheartedly. Leaders' precise use of additional funding effectively supports children's learning and next steps.

Leaders have established a highly inclusive culture that prioritises promoting children's positive sense of self. For example, they offer appropriate personalised support for families where necessary. This ensures that any barriers to opportunities that offer an additional boost to children's self-esteem, such as access to the professional haircutting service, are reduced swiftly.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Generally, the curriculum ensures that children receive high-quality learning. Staff understand what children need, from the youngest children in the baby rooms to the oldest children in the pre-school. They find out about children by interacting with and observing them. The information gathered by staff ensures they enrich the curriculum with experiences that ignites children's interests. Therefore, children progress steadily through the curriculum.

Staff expertly plan engaging activities matched to children's interests. Older children enthusiastically make dough for 'Paddington Bear's sandwiches' and younger children remain immersed in cornflour play. Staff use these opportunities to support counting, shape and number recognition, alongside refining small-muscle control. Furthermore, staff typically use open-ended questioning well to assess what children know and have learned. However, staff working with toddlers and pre-school children are too quick to provide responses during early problem-solving opportunities. This limits children's ability to think, guess or test their own ideas.

Staff facilitate children's independent exploration well across the nursery. Babies develop muscle control and coordination by engaging with a good range of challenging sensory and physical equipment. Staff read with great enthusiasm, fostering a love of books that inspires babies to independently choose them. Overall, staff deploy themselves well. However, during some free-choice activities, staff do not position themselves so that children's learning is consistently maximised.

Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities very well. This ensures that children learn from educational experiences that are adapted when needed to meet their changing needs. For example, staff use a range of supportive resources, such as 'Now and Next' boards, sensory toys and small-group interventions to help children progress towards clear targets.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children typically build the foundational skills necessary to successfully transition to their next stages in learning, despite some weakness in staff's support for their problem-solving. This includes older children's move on to school. Pre-school children engage well during structured group activities and listen and maintain their attention. They are able to confidently communicate their needs, recall events and express their ideas. Children learn to recognise colours, numbers and understand simple mathematical vocabulary. All children develop a love of books, enjoy playing with others and learn to negotiate and turn-take.

Children make considerable progress in their language and personal, social and emotional development. Children who speak other home languages learn to understand and communicate in English. Children build physical skills, including the stamina to toddle, climb, jump and balance. Children manage their self-care. This includes wiping their noses and managing their own toileting needs appropriately. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from the effective support strategies from staff. This ensures they engage with the curriculum and make steady progress in their communication and social interactions.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Across the nursery, children remain deeply engrossed in an enticing range of activities that support their creativity, imaginary play, muscle strength and coordination. Staff impressively incorporate flexibility within the well-embedded routines. Support for individual children's needs is at an extremely high level so that children know what is happening next. For example, mealtimes are arranged on a rolling basis. This allows children who are not ready to eat to continue playing. This supports autonomy for children's play, secures their ongoing engagement and ensures that their emotional wellbeing is not compromised.

Leaders ensure that all staff communicate high expectations of behaviour and continue to act as highly positive role models for children. Staff have a shared understanding of leader's commitment to promoting children's independence. They actively encourage younger children to feed themselves. Children learn to organise their belongings as they arrive and when returning from outdoor play. Children enjoy having responsibility for small tasks. For example, older children proudly describe their responsibilities as 'Safety Monitor'.

Leaders swiftly identify families facing challenging circumstances and offer appropriate support. Therefore, all children receive support to maintain steady attendance levels at the nursery. This includes those who are experiencing disadvantage or who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Staff observe care practices that comprehensively support children's emotional welfare and wellbeing throughout the nursery. They provide care in extremely respectful ways. For example, staff seek consent from children by asking permission before helping or administering personal care. Staff respond highly sensitively when children are upset or tired. They offer immediate physical and emotional comfort. Staff let babies know before they place bibs on them. This helps children to anticipate what will happen next.

Children build confidence at their own pace. Babies maintain eye contact with key persons during games, such as, 'peekaboo'. They are confident to explore and know they can return for hugs and cuddles from nurturing staff for reassurance should they need it.

Leaders ensure that staff care practices uphold their robust policies with regard to high hygiene standards. Staff ensure that surfaces are wiped clean and children's handwashing is thorough before mealtimes and after using the toilet. Staff effectively encourage children's positive attitudes towards healthy eating as they sit with the children to discuss healthy diets at mealtimes.

Children know how to keep themselves safe. They line up and hold on to the handrail as they climb the staircase. Staff promote children's understanding of personal safety highly effectively. This ensures that children always move carefully, including when they are excited.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders value the staff team and work closely with them. They have developed a stable workforce of practitioners who are dedicated to their roles. Staff receive effective coaching and support alongside supportive formal supervision meetings. Leaders ensure that staff complete mandatory and professional training that extends their knowledge and skills. Staff access essential training, as well as courses that align with areas of interest to them. Staff commend leaders for their supportive approach. They say they are happy in their roles. Staff morale is high and comprises of several long-term staff. However, to raise the quality of teaching further, leaders should coach staff on ways to enhance children's problem-solving opportunities.

Leaders show immense dedication and commitment to providing a high-quality learning environment for children. They forge strong partnership working with parents, underpinned by clear and meaningful communication between home and nursery. This enables their prompt response to changes in family circumstances or when children experience disadvantage or other barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. Parents express high praise for leaders and staff. They report positively about the levels of engagement they experience and the progress their children make.

Leaders have a thorough understanding of the community that the nursery serves. They have ensured that children benefit from the broad, rich and engaging curriculum. Leaders promote inclusive practice well and ensure that staff remain responsive to children's emerging needs. They ensure children's overall welfare, emotional wellbeing and safety is promoted to very high standards. Nevertheless, leaders should continue to strengthen staff practice during children's free-play choices, so that children's learning is continuously optimised.