Chestnuts Pre-school

Inclusion: Strong standard

Since the last inspection, leaders and staff have developed a much clearer understanding of children's individual needs and identify any emerging or changing needs quickly and accurately. They swiftly recognise barriers to learning and implement targeted support to address these on an individual basis. Leaders and staff follow an embedded graduated approach for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and readily seek advice from external professionals when appropriate. Other children who also face barriers to learning and wellbeing receive effective support that help to meet their individual needs and minimise gaps in their development. These children learn alongside their peers and take part fully in the curriculum. Parents and carers speak highly about the setting. They value the regular communication, parents' evenings and opportunities to discuss the targets in place for children receiving additional support and funding. Leaders and staff place a firm emphasis on building positive, trusting relationships with families. Through home visits and regular ongoing discussions, staff take time to understand each family's circumstances and offer support when challenges arise, including signposting them to relevant local services where appropriate.

Leaders monitor the progress of children, particularly those receiving extra support. Leaders skilfully support staff to adapt their teaching during activities and through thoughtful planning. Leaders consider carefully how additional funding is used to benefit children who receive it, such as for those from disadvantageous backgrounds. They regularly review children's needs and take account of parents' views when making decisions. For example, leaders have created a dedicated sensory space where small groups of children participate in tailored interventions. This quieter environment helps children to hear language more clearly, develop their concentration and engage more effectively in learning, leading to more rapid progress.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders design an engaging curriculum that sparks children's curiosity, imagination and creativity. Overall, leaders and staff use observations and assessments to identify what children know and can do. This information generally informs the planning of activities that build on children's next steps in learning. This tailored approach is more effective for children who face barriers to learning, particularly those who speak English as an additional language. For example, staff share dual language texts with children who speak Cantonese at home.

Staff generally support children's communication and language development by narrating their play and asking questions. However, due to weaknesses in monitoring, staff do not always extend children's thinking effectively and children lose interest. For instance, during group activities, staff sometimes ask questions that are too broad and do not effectively target individual children's levels of understanding. Staff do not always recognise when children are no longer fully engaged and do not consistently adapt their teaching to meet the needs of all learners. Consequently the quality of teaching is not yet consistently of a high standard.

Overall, staff weave mathematical language and concepts during children's play. They encourage children to practice their counting skills and praise those who do this very well, such as when some older children correctly answer simple addition calculations with relative ease. This shows that staff are more confident when teaching skills in this area.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children make steady progress across all areas of the curriculum from their starting points, particularly in their personal, social and emotional development, mathematical knowledge and physical skills. This includes disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those known to children's social care, who make rapid progress in areas identified by staff at an early stage. In general, children are well prepared for their eventual move to school.

Younger children and those who face barriers to learning build vocabulary and confidence through singing, listening and responding simply to questions. However, more confident communicators do not consistently benefit from opportunities to extend their language skills further. These children already demonstrate secure language skills and use a broader range of vocabulary successfully.

Children demonstrate increasing independence in managing their self-care routines. For example, they put away their belongings on arrival and wash their hands before mealtimes. However, at times, they wait for longer periods of time with minimal interaction while staff tidy away resources and set up the tables for lunch. Consequently, children do not consistently develop a secure sense of responsibility or independence.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders provide a welcoming environment where children typically develop a sense of belonging and a keen attitude to learning. In general, children understand staff's expectations for positive behaviour and follow instructions and most routines well, including those with barriers to learning, who receive more tailored interventions.

Overall, staff use positive strategies to promote appropriate behaviour and support children to manage their own safety. For example, staff remind children to use 'walking feet' indoors. However, approaches to behaviour management are not yet consistently implemented across the provision. While staff sometimes intervene to redirect unwanted behaviour, this is not always applied effectively, particularly during group activities when some children become disengaged and restless.

Staff build warm, nurturing relationships with children and provide reassurance and comfort when needed. While children learn to follow some established routines throughout the day, staff do not consistently support them to develop responsibility and independence. There are times when staff tidy away resources while children wait on the carpet for the next activity. In this way, there are periods during the day when children are not fully engaged in meaningful learning experiences.

Leaders fully recognise the importance of children attending regularly and arriving on time. They work closely with parents, who understand the procedures for reporting absences. Leaders monitor attendance effectively and act promptly to follow up any concerns regarding unauthorised absences.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Children demonstrate a positive sense of wellbeing as they form close bonds with familiar adults. They begin to build trusting relationships with staff from the outset, as leaders and staff carry out home visits, before children start. During these valuable visits, staff gather detailed information about children's individual care routines, including sleeping, feeding, nappy changing and toileting needs. On the whole, staff know children well and respond promptly to their individual requirements. For example, they quickly provide appropriate sleeping arrangements when children become tired. As a result, children settle well and feel secure.

Leaders use additional funding effectively to support children's wellbeing and development. For example, some funding is used to extend children's sessions to include lunchtime experiences. These children arrive enthusiastically with their packed lunches and proudly tell others they are staying for lunch. Across the setting, children typically develop increasing independence as they manage their packed lunches, use their water bottles and put away their lunch bags when they finish eating. These opportunities promote children's health, wellbeing and self-care skills. However, children are not always encouraged to take responsibility for some daily routines or to develop a secure sense of ownership. For instance, they are not routinely supported to tidy away resources before lunch.

Children learn to recognise and express their emotions through interactions and, at times, demonstrate an emerging understanding of how others feel. Staff support this effectively through sharing stories and using puppets that explore feelings and emotions. For those children who face barriers to their development, leaders, staff, external professionals and parents and carers work collaboratively to help them to separate comfortably from their parents when they first arrive, such as supporting children to spend time in the garden where they like to play.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Since the last inspection, the setting has undergone recent changes in leadership, which has strengthened its day-to-day operation. Leaders and a highly supportive committee make informed decisions that prioritise children's best interests and have worked hard to address the actions from the last inspection, especially by significantly raising the quality of provision for children who face barriers to learning. Leaders have worked effectively in partnership with local authority advisers, external professionals, and parents and carers to introduce clear systems and procedures, particularly to support children who face barriers to learning. For instance, portage workers and family support workers collaborate closely with leaders, staff, parents and receiving settings to ensure a shared approach to supporting children's development and smooth transitions.

Leaders demonstrate a genuine commitment to continuous improvement. They understand the setting's strengths and are taking effective steps to embed these into practice. For instance, they support newer members of staff to fully understand and implement policies and procedures.

Leaders also identify areas for further development, including raising the quality of teaching and children's learning to a consistently high level. However, arrangements to provide individual staff with personalised and consistent support are not yet fully effective. As a result, some staff do not receive sufficient guidance to further develop their knowledge and skills or to fulfil their roles and responsibilities to the fullest. This affects the consistency of practice across the setting.

Passionate leaders promote a positive working culture and place a firm emphasis on staff wellbeing. They support staff to manage their workload through regular check-ins, an open-door approach and opportunities for staff team development, specifically in raising the quality of practice for children who face barriers to learning. This contributes to a cohesive, motivated and positive staff team.