Brooklands Cove

Inclusion: Strong standard

Children with additional needs and children who face barriers to learning receive timely and carefully planned support. Staff consistently identify and assess children's individual needs at an early stage, including during the settling-in period where appropriate. Swift referrals and targeted support ensure children and families receive early intervention as soon as possible. This sustained focus on early identification helps children access the support they need to promote positive outcomes.

Children benefit greatly from staff's adapted interactions and supportive strategies tailored to their individual needs. For example, staff expertly use visual prompts when needed to help children to develop understanding and independence during toilet training. Children make significant progress from focused small-group interventions, which are highly effective in improving children's language development, building their vocabulary and developing social skills.

Skilful staff regularly review children's progress. They consistently engage with parents and carers and external professionals to ensure support remains effective. Early years pupil premium funding is used to purchase a speech and language toolkit, strengthening staff knowledge and supporting parents' understanding of children's communication and language development. Staff commit to providing an inclusive setting. They are proactive in accessing relevant training and liaise with neighbouring settings to strengthen their practice.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Overall, children benefit from an ambitious curriculum that meets the learning and development requirements of the early years foundation stage. Leaders purposefully plan a curriculum to build on what children already know and to support what they need to learn next, reflecting their interests and stages of development. For example, staff support younger children to explore paint using their hands to spread colours on logs, developing their understanding of texture and colour mixing. Older children mix colours intentionally, talk about the changes they notice and describe their creations.

Children access an environment that staff adapt thoughtfully to meet children's individual needs. For example, children who need support with emotional regulation benefit from a quieter space with focused fine motor skills activities. Staff know their key children well, understand their starting points and use assessment effectively to support children's future learning.

Staff generally support children's language and communication well through modelling, questioning and conversations during play. For example, staff help children make connections between numbers on a clock and their ages during a number activity. However, at times, some staff's interactions are not consistently of high quality to extend children's learning fully, such as about mathematical language and understanding of diversity.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children build secure foundations in communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development. They make sound progress from their starting points, including children who face barriers to learning. However, children do not consistently develop their use of mathematical language and understanding of the diverse world around them.

Children show pride in their achievements and respond positively to praise and encouragement. They explore the setting with curiosity, ask questions and show sustained focus during play for extended periods. Children work together imaginatively to create role-play stories, such as going on holiday, using carefully selected resources and loose parts to extend creativity.

Children develop physical skills through fine motor activities, including malleable play, which strengthens hand coordination and independence. Children enjoy stories and show an interest in the books available. They listen attentively as staff read familiar stories and confidently comment on what they can see.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders establish a calm, nurturing and positive environment where children understand expectations and behave well. Staff consistently reinforce routines and expectations. For example, staff encourage children to independently put on their sun hats and have their sun cream applied before outdoor play. As a result of fully embedded routines, children move confidently through their day and demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning.

Families say that they feel involved in nursery life through regular updates and stay-and-play sessions. Families are supported by leaders to understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality. Children and families are helped to feel safe and secure with the setting's highly effective settling-in procedures.

Children collaborate effectively, share resources and play cooperatively. Staff consistently model turn-taking and help children develop friendships and social confidence. Children engage calmly in play and sustain focus on activities for extended periods. For example, children engage with staff in a singing activity, taking turns to choose songs to sing and listen patiently to one another. Staff act as positive role models and use praise and encouragement to build children's self-esteem and motivation to learn.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders consistently implement robust policies and procedures, which they regularly review and share with families, to support children's welfare, mental health and wellbeing. Leaders are thoughtful in how they organise their setting to prioritise children's welfare. For example, adjusting seating arrangements at mealtimes to ensure children with allergies are kept safe. Leaders show strong accountability in managing challenges such as illness outbreaks, responding appropriately in line with policy and statutory guidance while maintaining effective communication with families.

Children have strong attachments with their key persons, and relationships are thoughtfully nurtured. Staff are highly attentive to children's emotional needs, particularly for children who face barriers to learning, ensuring all children feel heard and valued. Staff skilfully adapt the environment to provide areas of familiarity and comfort to support children's emotional regulation.

Children are motivated to make healthy choices during mealtimes and develop independence when using cutlery and self-selecting fruit and vegetables. Following children's recent experiences, staff discuss the importance of visiting the dentist and brushing teeth to strengthen children's understanding of good oral health and reduce any anxiety around dental check-ups.

Children benefit from regular physical activity and outdoor learning opportunities. Leaders plan local trips to the parks, woods and shops to extend children's experiences. For example, children recently visited a local shop to buy ingredients for a healthy eating activity. Leaders know children and families well and ensure all children regularly access outdoor experiences.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders have managed the transition from a childminding setting to a nursery successfully. They demonstrate a clear commitment to maintaining stability and shared responsibility during a period of temporary change. Leaders work collaboratively to provide consistent leadership and continuity for children and their families.

Leaders are highly reflective and have a deep understanding of the setting's strengths and areas for development. They use this knowledge to support sustained improvement and success across the provision. For example, they identify inclusion as an ongoing priority and take effective steps to strengthen their inclusive practice further through external support, reflective staff supervision and professional development opportunities. They have identified inconsistencies in teaching and are taking steps to improve the quality of teaching and interactions for less experienced staff, for example through a programme of training, coaching and shadowing high-quality interactions of experienced colleagues.

Leaders make decisions with children's best interests at the centre, particularly for children facing barriers to learning. They thoughtfully adapt how they engage with parents and carers. For example, they actively encourage attendance for stay-and-play sessions, including extended family members, to ensure every child feels included. This positive and fostered parent partnership helps children to thrive in all aspects of their development.

Leaders consider staff wellbeing and workload carefully, ensuring staff use their time effectively to support children. Leaders provide regular supervision, mentoring and emotional support, adapting approaches to meet staff needs and promoting a positive working environment. Staff report feeling valued, listened to and fully supported in their roles.