BYPN Golders Green

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders and staff prioritise supporting children's individual needs. They identify and assess children's needs promptly after they start at the provision, reducing barriers to learning by implementing support strategies that are tailored to each child's individual challenges. Leaders ensure all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), access their full educational entitlement. Staff work closely with parents and external professionals to provide consistent support across the provision and at home. As a result, children benefit from approaches that help them feel safe, secure and increasingly confident.

Children, including those with SEND and others facing barriers to their learning and wellbeing, benefit from a range of resources that support their individual needs. For example, children benefit from calm sensory tents, visual timetables and 'now and next' cards that help them prepare for transitions, as well as sensory activities that encourage them to explore a range of textures. These approaches help children feel settled and ready to learn.

Leaders ensure staff understand children's individual strategies and model how to adapt their practice to meet changing needs. Staff plan activities that target children's next steps, review how well these strategies work and adapt their approaches accordingly. This ongoing cycle of assessment, implementation and review ensures support remains responsive to children's individual progress.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders and staff plan an ambitious curriculum and demonstrate a clear understanding of what they want all children, including those who face barriers to their learning, to know and do. They take children's interests, experiences from home and individual next steps into account when planning the curriculum. Staff create a language-rich environment where they consistently introduce new vocabulary through themed learning, familiar nursery rhymes and meaningful conversations with babies and older children. They plan learning experiences that build on children's prior knowledge and cover all areas of learning, with a particular focus on communication and language, personal, social and emotional development and physical development. Staff weave learning about the Jewish faith, traditions and culture throughout the curriculum.

As part of the underwater theme, staff introduce children to sea animals, the ocean and the importance of caring for the environment. Staff read stories such as 'The Rainbow Fish', sing nursery rhymes linked to the weekly theme and provide babies with different brushes and sponges to create their own rainbow fish. They encourage exploration and build on children's communication and language through meaningful interactions and the introduction of new vocabulary. Staff encourage older children to discuss ocean pollution during morning circle, count plastic bottles collected from the sea and introduce vocabulary such as 'pollution' while developing children's mathematical understanding. Staff further promote mathematics, encouraging children to sing number songs, create patterns during an octopus threading activity and count objects during group activities. Although staff provide meaningful learning experiences, they do not yet consistently provide high-quality interactions that challenge children's thinking and deepen their learning.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children make secure progress from their individual starting points across the areas of learning. They confidently engage in activities that reflect their interests and experiences from home, such as going on holiday, celebrating special occasions or welcoming a new sibling. They eagerly participate in the weekly 'Shabbos parties', where they join in familiar songs, routines and celebrations that reflect their home experiences. Most children remain engaged throughout these shared experiences. However, some younger children lose interest when the length of the session does not consistently match their stage of development.

Children develop the knowledge and skills they need for their next stage of learning. Babies gain confidence in walking independently, communicate their needs increasingly well and are well supported to reach the next stage of feeding themselves independently at mealtimes. Older children prepare well for school by dressing independently, serving their own meals, managing their personal hygiene and expressing their ideas and feelings with growing confidence. They also develop a sense of responsibility as they take turns being the nursery's special helpers. They confidently set the table, help prepare activities and take pride in contributing to the daily routines of the nursery. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, develop their communication and language through stories, nursery rhymes and meaningful conversations with staff and their peers. They also enjoy choosing books from the nursery library to share with their families at home.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders establish clear and consistent routines that help children feel secure and understand what is expected of them. Staff know children well and adapt daily routines to meet their individual needs. They use a range of strategies, including visual timetables, 'now and next' cards and familiar tidy-up songs, to prepare children for changes throughout the day. These approaches help all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, understand routines, move confidently between activities and build trusting relationships with staff.

Staff model calm, respectful interactions and encourage children to treat one another with kindness and consideration. They remind children to use kind words, share resources and include their peers in play. During morning prayers, children confidently follow familiar routines, join in with well-known words, take turns and learn to listen respectfully to others. Children respond positively to these consistent expectations and develop confidence within the nursery environment.

Children show positive attitudes towards learning and eagerly participate in activities linked to the weekly theme. For example, they gather around the messy-play table set up as the ocean and listen attentively as staff explain the effects pollution has on the fish living in it. Older children remain engaged, repeat newly introduced vocabulary and confidently ask questions to extend their understanding. Leaders promote regular attendance and work closely with families so children benefit from consistent routines and learning experiences. While established routines support children's behaviour well, some whole-group activities continue for longer than children of different ages can sustain their engagement. As a result, some younger children become restless, which occasionally affects their behaviour.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders place children's welfare and wellbeing at the centre of everyday practice. Staff establish consistent routines that help children develop healthy habits and understand how to care for themselves. Children confidently follow hygiene routines and understand the importance of washing their hands thoroughly. They also develop an understanding of healthy lifestyle choices through everyday experiences. For example, during role play in the home corner, children talk with staff about healthy foods, discuss why these foods are good for them and eagerly share their favourite fruit and vegetables. Parents describe how their children have become more willing to try new foods, particularly vegetables, since attending the nursery, demonstrating that children are beginning to make positive choices about their health.

Leaders create a safe and secure environment where children confidently explore indoors and outdoors. Staff consistently teach children how to keep themselves safe and remind them how to move safely around the nursery and garden. Children confidently manage appropriate risks as they balance on the beam, climb the climbing frame and strengthen their coordination, balance and core muscles through active play.

Children develop high levels of emotional wellbeing and resilience. They increasingly recognise and express their emotions and begin to use familiar strategies to regulate their feelings. For example, when upset, children independently choose to spend time in the 'calm tent' until they feel ready to rejoin their friends. This demonstrates children's growing confidence in recognising their emotions and using strategies that support their own wellbeing.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders plan a well-sequenced curriculum that reflects children's individual needs, interests and stages of development. They typically support staff to adapt learning experiences effectively to ensure all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning, access the curriculum and make progress from their individual starting points. Leaders work closely with external professionals, including the local authority, to secure appropriate support and continually review the strategies that best meet children's needs. Staff access mandatory training alongside professional development that reflects the needs of the children they care for. For example, staff working with babies complete training to strengthen their knowledge of early speech and language development. Staff report that leaders support their wellbeing and help them manage their workload effectively.

Leaders regularly evaluate the quality of the provision and identify priorities for further improvement. Following recent changes within the leadership team, they have worked proactively to strengthen their leadership arrangements and continue to build on the nursery's existing practice. Leaders gather feedback from staff, parents and external professionals to inform their self-evaluation and improvement planning.