Burwood Forest School

Inclusion: Strong standard

All children are made to feel welcome at this setting. Leaders and staff take time to get to know each child and their family. They work in collaboration with parents and carers to help identify any gaps in children's learning or children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) from the start. Staff have effective and ongoing training to support their roles and fully understand their responsibilities so that children with SEND remain a consistent priority. Staff recognise possible barriers children may face to their learning and put appropriate interventions in place. This includes making swift referrals and working with professionals and external agencies. Staff follow targets set by professionals to help ensure that children receive the right level of support and make good developmental progress. For instance, staff implement speech and language targets with support from the special educational needs coordinator, and they have plans to introduce other early talk programmes to help raise the quality of the provision even further.

Leaders have high expectations and strive to give each child a positive start to their education. They work with staff to learn about each child's background, their cultures and any festivals they may celebrate. This helps children to feel valued. The management team and committee work together to consider how best to use any additional funding they receive to support children's needs. They demonstrate strong expertise and confidence in meeting the needs of all children, making this a clear strength of the setting.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Staff make good use of the woodland area to promote all aspects of children's learning. They have set out areas for plenty of exploratory, physical and creative play. Staff deploy themselves well, following children's interests. For example, some staff sit and read books to children, while others engage in water play or creating pictures of animals out of acorns. Staff's genuine enthusiasm excites children and encourages them to join in. For instance, as staff eagerly suggest a treasure hunt, children show curiosity and instinctively want to help on the search. They turn over logs and find minibeasts and know that the tiny eggs they have found belong to snails. Children's confidence and resilience are very evident as they are keen to explore everything that is on offer.

Staff continually monitor and assess children's development. They know the children well. Children who need additional help with their speech and language development receive support from staff. The teaching of mathematics is also generally woven in well. Staff encourage children to count, begin to make simple calculations and use mathematical language. Overall, staff's interactions with children are good, and typically, activities are well thought out. However, some activities are not always planned precisely and staff do not consistently make the most of opportunities to extend children's learning.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children make secure progress in their learning, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who may face barriers to their learning. Children who need support with their communication skills benefit from staff's work with external agencies. Leaders have positive plans to boost this further by introducing simple signing and seeking training on initiatives to further support children's speech and language. However, high standards of achievement are not yet sustained as staff do not always use the opportunities that arise to challenge children.

Children are resilient and demonstrate secure levels of engagement in activities. This helps children to become ready for school. Children show a clear interest in the natural world. For example, they enjoy digging for worms and examine them closely under their magnifying glasses. Children learn how the worms can be used in their vegetable patches to help the plants grow.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Staff build positive relationships with children. Children enter the setting with ease and chat confidently to staff and their friends. Children who have not attended the setting for long have very quickly embraced the routine and independently get themselves ready for their outdoor play, such as changing their shoes and putting on their overalls. This is a result of the warm and caring staff, who work hard to help children feel settled and secure. Children work collaboratively and happily share their toys. For instance, when they notice that their friends have fewer toy bears, they readily share theirs out to make it fair.

The woodland space instils a sense of calm. Staff mirror this calm approach and are very effective role models. They are consistent in their expectations and show kindness and respect. There are few instances of negative behaviour. Children manage conflicts and understand how their actions impact on others. Children's behaviour and attitudes to learning are incredibly positive.

Leaders and staff closely monitor children's attendance. Their positive relationships with families help to ensure regular attendance, which enables children to benefit fully from the curriculum on offer.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Staff support children very well to develop a love of being outdoors and benefit from the fresh air in all seasons. Children thoroughly enjoy splashing in muddy puddles and participating in messy play, such as mixing cornflour and shaving foam. Children fully engross themselves in exploring the mixtures they have made. They climb into the tray to use all their senses and become completely covered. Staff encourage children's independence in managing personal care and provide a healthy snack of fresh fruit, which children help to prepare in the shelter outside. Children learn the importance of washing their hands and safely use knives to cut up the fruit for their peers.

Leaders and staff are kind and strive to help children to develop a healthy lifestyle. Children develop strong attachments with staff. They show high levels of emotional wellbeing and security. Staff teach children about being safe. They have recently updated risk assessments to help to ensure that all children are accounted for as they move around the site. There are lots of opportunities for challenging and risky play. This extends children's positive 'can-do' attitude and resilience. Children relish their time outdoors.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders have a secure knowledge of the families and children who attend. They develop positive relationships with parents and carers and work with them to make sure that any children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or barriers to their learning get the support they need. However, the general information provided to parents about how they can support their children's learning at home is inconsistent. Parents do not always receive precise information about how they can help their children to achieve their next steps in learning at home.

Leaders have a clear vision for this setting. They know what they do well and what they would like to improve further. For example, they have good plans in place to develop the garden area for the children attending after school. The management team has also recently improved the procedures for transitioning children from outdoors to indoors to enhance how staff keep children safe.

Staff comment that they feel well supported and have opportunities to reflect on their practice. Leaders support staff's wellbeing and professional development effectively through coaching and regular training.