Christopher Robyn's Pre-school Limited

Inclusion: Strong standard

The setting operates in a diverse local community. Staff and leaders have an astute understanding of the unique context they operate within. They use their excellent knowledge of family backgrounds to provide an exemplary inclusive provision where every child is supported to thrive. Leaders strive with tenacity and dedication to meet the needs of the families who access their service.

Leaders receive additional funding to support some children who attend. They use this money extremely wisely to tailor their care in the most appropriate ways and help children to make the progress of which they are capable. For instance, leaders occasionally waiver or subsidise attendance fees to ensure that children benefit from continual and uninterrupted learning. Leaders arrange for local businesses to donate toys to families and signpost parents to local food banks. This is a highly inclusive provision because support is precisely targeted and impacts positively on families lives.

Staff identify and assess children's individual needs quickly, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They rapidly implement interventions for those children who are considered to have barriers to their learning. Staff ensure that support is timely, proportionate and reviewed regularly. They know children well and make thoughtful and necessary adaptations to their teaching, environment and activities to enable all children to successfully participate and thrive.

Staff work incredibly closely with a range of professionals. They proactively seek the expertise from social workers, speech and language therapists and health visitors to best support children in their care. The setting has a remarkable reputation among these professionals for their excellent attitude and approach to inclusion.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

The curriculum design is clear, simple and informs every interaction between staff and children. Leaders describe the four cornerstones of the curriculum as healthy habits, independence, vocabulary and inclusion. There is a collective commitment to deliver this curriculum and, as such, children benefit from effective teaching.

Staff understand their role to teach children and extend their knowledge and skills. They role model effectively by showing children how to complete new tasks. Staff ask questions and make suggestions to extend children's learning. They are skilful teachers, and their active participation in children's play helps to promote learning.

Notably, children become confident communicators. Staff talk to children continually, pausing at appropriate times for children to respond to questions and engage in discussions and conversations. Their physical development is equally well promoted. For example, staff encourage children to put on their own coats, manage their toileting needs and feed themselves independently. Teaching helps children to acquire the necessary and key skills in readiness for school.

Staff observe children continuously and build an accurate picture of children's abilities and progress. Key persons know exactly what they want children to learn next, and children are well supported to progress. However, published next steps displayed in the pre-school are sometimes too broad. Wider staff members, who also interact with children, are are a little unsure about how best to support learning. This means that although teaching delivered by key persons is precise, this high-quality teaching does not always extend to other adults who play with children. In turn, children's experiences are variable.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children are enthusiastic and motivated learners. They move from one activity to another with purpose and intent. Their engagement in meaningful play helps them to progress from their starting points and prepare for the eventual move to school.

Children learn about the wider world in which they live in very practical ways. For instance, when playing in the garden, they notice when ambulance drivers beep their horns as they pass. In a similar encounter, children talk about the vehicle that sweeps the roads as it cleans the road nearby. Children learn about people within their community and different professions, developing their knowledge of the world. Children enjoy borrowing books from the setting's library. This enables them to read at home, extending their love for literacy from an early age.

Children are confident as they proudly showcase their jewel artwork, completed during a recent creative activity. They recall their learning about the different textures of craft materials, such as 'shiny' and 'bright'. Children demonstrate secure and developing language skills. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities progress well. They benefit from quieter spaces, with fewer distractions and less interruptions. This adaptation illustrates how all children are supported to thrive. Children's rapid achievement is not consistently supported because there is not a collective understanding of children's learning needs among all staff.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Children find structured and established routines very reassuring. Typically, they know what is expected of them as they follow predictable and repeated tasks. For instance, at the beginning of each day, children enjoy group time. They anticipate this activity by congregating together on the carpet without prompting.

Children's behaviour is generally positive because they clearly understand what is expected of them. Staff adapt and adjust their behaviour management strategies to ensure an inclusive approach for all children. Typically, children behave well. When children experience age-appropriate frustrations, staff help them to understand their heightened emotions and feelings through clear explanations and activities. Children also enjoy plenty of praise and encouragement to reinforce positive behaviours. Children trust and respect the adults who care for them. They respond well to staff's successful interventions to manage their behaviour.

Relationships shared between children and staff are positive. Children find the warm interactions they receive from friendly staff very reassuring. This helps to build their sense of belonging. Children receive small and appropriate opportunities to undertake responsibilities throughout the day. This enables them to shine as they stand tall and complete these tasks with pride and careful attention. For instance, children help to set the table prior to snack time. Undertaking these responsibilities throughout the day builds children's independence and positive self-esteem.

Staff and leaders work tirelessly to promote accessibility for all families. The opening and closing times for the setting have recently been amended to match local schools' operational hours. This has impacted positively on children's punctuality and attendance. This is an example of the practical steps taken by the responsive leadership team to promote children's attendance.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Vigilant and cautious staff promote children's welfare and wellbeing well. To illustrate, staff ensure that children wear helmets when they play on bicycles. This minimises risk and protects children from possible harm. Children wash their hands with soap and warm water before eating, promoting their positive health. They skip to the bathroom, clearly familiar with this routine task. Staff supervise children when they wash their hands closely to ensure rigour, but typically children complete the task independently. Children's personal safety, physical development and health are promoted very well.

Children enjoy nutritious snacks, and staff encourage parents to make healthy packed lunches. This bolsters children's positive attitudes towards healthy eating. Systems are in place to ensure that those children with special dietary needs are carefully catered for. This meets children's individual needs and promotes their safety while eating.

All children's emotional wellbeing and welfare are supported because staff have an inclusive attitude towards this aspect of their practice. To illustrate, those children who need emotional reassurance are readily offered cuddles and are encouraged to sit on a staff member's knee during group activities. Alternatively, those children who prefer to be more independent are given space to explore. This adaptive approach illustrates how all children are supported to thrive in their welfare and wellbeing.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders have successfully created a culture of improvement. There is a true sense of teamwork among the entire staff team. Staff all work together to improve and achieve high standards for children and families. This impressive sense of togetherness and joint ownership of the vision drives continual development.

Leaders are considerate of staff's wellbeing and workload. Effective teamwork means that workload is evenly shared and tasks are delegated fairly. Staff benefit from weekly staff meetings. These offer an opportunity for staff to join collectively and for leaders to thank staff for their efforts and hard work. Staff are valued, happy and motivated to excel.

Partnerships with parents and carers are positive. Leaders ask parents for their views, enabling them to contribute to the setting's aims and goals. Collaboration between home and the setting are established and effective. A sample of parents' comments include, 'Staff are absolutely amazing' and their children have 'grown so much in confidence'. These exemplify the positive and joined-up approach achieved between staff and parents.

There is an emerging culture of professional development across the staff team. However, this is not yet fully established to strengthen staff's confidence and skills even more, impacting positively on outcomes for children.