Creative Minds Nursery

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders have high expectations for all children, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who face other barriers to their learning. Staff are well trained on the graduated approach and identify children's needs swiftly and accurately. They work very well together to assess and monitor children's progress. Leaders ensure that children and families receive the help and support they need to continue this at home. As such, children with SEND and those known to children's social care make excellent progress from their starting points.

Leaders ensure that they have very effective links with the local community and professional partners to ensure that children receive consistent highly effective support. For example, they are proactive in supporting families who speak English as an additional language, providing advice to help their children settle. Staff develop information packs to send home to support families with bereavements. This helps children to feel comfortable and included. Staff adapt environments and use funding effectively to develop sensory spaces to ensure that children with SEND have places to relax and retreat to when needed. Leaders train staff to deliver small-group communication and literacy sessions. This supports children with speech and language needs successfully and ensures that all children are ready for their next stage.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Children benefit from staff who plan a curriculum where their development is prioritised. Staff use assessment and tracking to identify where children are in their learning and plan activities and experiences to support their next learning steps. This means children are provided with a wide range of opportunities to develop important skills for their future. Staff cuddle and comfort babies regularly, supporting their wellbeing very effectively. Older children develop positive relationships with each other, learning about feelings and friendships when reading stories. Staff encourage children's mathematical skills and tailor their teaching to children's needs and interests. For example, staff skilfully encourage older children to use words such as 'transparent' when talking about colours. Other children remain engrossed lining up toy animals in size order, learning about the 'biggest' and 'smallest'. This supports children's understanding effectively.

Leaders prioritise children's language and communication. Older children identify different letters of the alphabet within the setting and look forward to a local storyteller reading with them. Staff take children to the library nearby. They encourage families to 'book swap' to develop children's love of reading further. However, at times, some staff do not always recognise when they could support children further with their growing independence skills. For example, sometimes staff do things for children that they could attempt themselves, such as pouring their own drinks and opening their lunches. Leaders recognise this and have plans to support staff further. However, this is yet to be completely impactful. Nonetheless, children enjoy learning to develop their physical skills outside, blowing bubbles and using large spades to dig. These skills help children's coordination and movement successfully.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those known to children's social care do significantly well. Children develop key skills in their confidence, behaviour and managing emotions. Children who found it more challenging to settle at first now eagerly attend and help staff to get things ready for activities. They demonstrate positive attitudes and an understanding of expectations well. However, at times, children are not always provided with opportunities to extend their independence skills further to support their ongoing development. However, children develop their communication and language well. They engage in conversations with others, developing important listening and attention skills and extending their vocabulary. As such, all children develop the necessary skills ready for school.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Children benefit from staff who are excellent role models. They praise and celebrate children's achievements, encouraging consistently very positive behaviour and attitudes. As such, relationships between children and staff are respectful, warm and nurturing. Babies share toys and show interest in what their friends are doing. Older children collaborate very well to wash their dolls together, talking about how to look after them, showing consistent kindness and care. These activities support children's understanding of expectations very well.

Leaders prioritise children's attendance. They work very closely with families to encourage and support regular attendance. Leaders recognise where family circumstances can make this challenging and do all they can to support. Children and families who face disadvantage are offered a range of flexible sessions and drop-offs to accommodate individual needs. There are robust processes in place to monitor children's attendance and ensure that all families, including those with children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those known to children's social care, are very well supported to develop positive routines. This has a significant impact on the progress all children make.

Staff encourage children to be very respectful of their friends and others. Children talk excitedly about the setting's mascot, who they take on adventures, learning about their friends' families and demonstrating respect for those in same-sex relationships and civil partnerships. This supports their understanding and respect for others very well. Children develop perseverance and resilience. Staff adapt furniture to support babies who were born with significant physical challenges, and, as such, they learn to crawl and walk confidently. Older children with SEND are encouraged to learn to manage bicycles and tricycles, navigating space and learning key skills of control and coordination successfully.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders consistently prioritise children's wellbeing. They cuddle and care for babies, who develop very special bonds with staff. Older children learn to identify their own feelings and emotions, supporting their understanding of positive mental health very well. Staff consistently encourage all children to develop healthy habits. Staff successfully embed teaching children explicitly about food, rest, exercise and screen time to promote healthy lifestyles. Children receive a wide range of nutritious food and snacks, promoting healthy eating. Children eagerly identify healthy foods and spend time creating healthy plates, talking about what is good for them. These embedded and well-structured routines support children's understanding of how to keep themselves healthy and safe consistently.

Staff promote the benefits of being outdoors, and older children excitedly look forward to their forest school adventures, where they learn to manage risks for themselves and appreciate the natural world. Staff encourage all children to be physically healthy. Babies enjoy exploring physical equipment outside. Other children chase bubbles and learn to run and catch. Older children sustain high levels of interest, talking with staff about growing fruits and vegetables later in the year, learning where food comes from. Staff provide individualised and targeted support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities successfully. All staff know all children and families very well and are incredibly responsive to their individual circumstances. All children demonstrate that they are very happy and secure.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders are committed. They have made significant strides since their last inspection and accurately identify where they can continue to further support staff in their expertise. Leaders work very closely with the local authority to ensure that what they offer is high quality and consistent. They use their detailed knowledge of the local area and families to ensure that they offer specialised care. This ensures that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who face other barriers to their learning and children known to children's social care do very well from their starting points.

Staff make a consistently positive contribution to improving the quality of practice and provision. For example, leaders identified immediately that, at times, some staff require support with their confidence to support children even further with their independence skills. They seek out immediate additional training and professional development opportunities to support this, showing they are very adaptive and responsive to staff's and the setting's changing needs. This demonstrates that there is a consistent focus on developing a culture of continuous improvement. Leaders have developed very effective links with the local community and nearby settings and schools to foster a culture of support and sharing of expertise. Staff develop very effective links to ensure that all children have very smooth transitions. Leaders are acutely aware of staff's workloads and prioritise their wellbeing. Staff report that they love their jobs and feel incredibly supported. Partnerships with parents are excellent, and parents appreciate the support, advice and guidance they receive. They talk of the significant progress their children have made and that their children flourish and thrive.