Bumblebee Nursery

Inclusion: Strong standard

Parents and carers comment on how well staff have identified children's individual needs. This includes providing tailored support and accessing additional funding where necessary. Highly knowledgeable staff support parents through the process of applying for education, health and care plans. Staff meet regularly with parents to ensure they fully understand how targeted support plans help their children to progress in their development and to reach their next steps in learning.

Skilled staff make informed decisions, in partnership with parents, about how to spend additional funding, such as early years pupil premium. This ensures funding supports children's individual next steps and helps to accelerate their learning. For example, staff have sourced sensory tents and spinning chairs. This helps to support children's emotional regulation. The impact of this funding is carefully monitored and reviewed to ensure it is having a positive impact on each child.

Dedicated leaders support staff to fully ensure the inclusion of every child. This includes disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), those who are known or previously known to social care, and those who may face barriers to their learning. Leaders work closely with other professionals. Those with oversight of SEND receive a range of training and support. This helps to extend their knowledge and expertise. This results in the swift identification of gaps in children's learning and targeted support being planned and implemented to meet their needs and aid their progression.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders and staff ensure that the curriculum is inclusive. Staff's skilled and comprehensive support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities provides these children with focused learning and development opportunities. Staff understand individual children's stages of development, and they use this knowledge to typically plan for each child's next steps in learning. This generally provides children with the skills needed as they progress through the setting. Interactions between staff and children place a strong focus on early communication and language skills, as well as supporting children to develop their physical strength. Staff plan interesting activities for babies, where they encourage them to scoop and pour shaving foam and cereals using ice-cream scoops, while reaching for objects of interest. They encourage children's early communication by modelling single words and singing nursery rhymes. The introduction of repetitive number rhymes introduces young children to simple counting.

Toddlers are supported to learn about the life cycle of a caterpillar. When listening to 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' story, staff encourage children to discuss the changes they can see to the caterpillar. Pre-school children remain focused and engaged when playing outside as staff plan key learning opportunities in small groups.

Staff typically plan suitable activities to support toddlers' understanding of numbers, shapes and colours. However, while staff plan a range of activities to support pre-school children's mathematical awareness, including number, shape, space and measure, some of the activities are too complex for the children participating. For example, when encouraging children to accurately count cubes, staff encourage children to count the cubes beyond 10. However, not all children have effectively secured the initial knowledge to do this.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children are typically achieving well from their starting points. They have the opportunity to develop their independence skills and interactions with adults and peers throughout the setting. Children are becoming confident communicators as they engage in discussions with adults and their peers. They further develop their vocabulary when listening to stories and joining in with singing. Children learn to take turns and listen during group activities. Babies and toddlers are introduced to numbers and counting through developmentally appropriate experiences. However, pre-school children do not make the best possible progress in their understanding of number, as activities do not consistently build on what they already know and can do, whereas babies and toddlers achieve age-related expectations in mathematics, as activities are planned more effectively to support progression.

Children who face barriers to their learning, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are quickly identified and provided with focused support and interventions. This ensures these children make the progress of which they are capable.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Children have positive and secure attachments with their key persons. Staff recognise the importance of developing young children's personal and social skills. This includes a focus on helping children to understand and regulate their emotions. Children happily engage in their learning, and there is a calm, purposeful and harmonious environment where they demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. Leaders and staff set high expectations for children's behaviour as they encourage and promote this positive attitude to learning.

Attendance is prioritised, and leaders work flexibly with parents to support this high level of engagement. Children are encouraged to develop their independence skills. For example, at lunchtime, staff support children through positive interactions. Staff work with other agencies and professionals to promote the inclusion of every child.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Leaders and staff create a safe, welcoming setting. This helps children to feel emotionally secure as they arrive and enter the setting with ease. Safer eating guidelines are adhered to, and the curriculum is planned to support healthy eating, safer sleeping and good hygiene routines. For example, when reading the Hungry Caterpillar story, staff provide children with real fruits and vegetables, which they enjoy tasting. As the story progresses, staff encourage children to discuss healthy eating.

Children's physical and emotional health are generally well supported, with staff providing a nurturing environment for all children. However, at some transition times in the baby room, staff are not highly responsive to babies' changing needs. For example, when babies show a clear preference for wanting to go inside, while staff provide them with comfort and reassurance when they become upset, they wait until told by more senior staff before taking the babies inside. While changes have been made to the baby room lunchtime routine to try and work around babies' sleep and feeding needs, the routine is not embedded in practice. This results in some occasions where staff are still preparing the table and there is initial confusion as to whether children should sit down or join in singing activities.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Regular supervision sessions between leaders and staff are completed, where there is a focus on supporting staff's wellbeing. Staff comment on how they feel well supported. Leaders follow clear recruitment and induction procedures to help ensure the suitability of staff. Leaders continue to mentor staff and support their professional development. Staff have many opportunities for training, and information is shared during regular meetings, which generally helps them to support children's learning. Leaders are reflective and willing to make improvements as they work to secure better outcomes for children. Ongoing improvements to some routines in the baby room and aspects of the curriculum for number in the pre-school room are not yet embedded in practice.

Communication with parents, external agencies and the community is positive. This 2-way communication, promoted from the outset, positively impacts on each child's learning, development and wellbeing. Leaders provide support to parents and carers, and they introduce them to relevant services available to them in the local area. This includes special educational needs and inclusion services. This enables support services to promptly be requested to meet children's individual needs.