Crestway Preschool

Inclusion: Strong standard

All children demonstrate a strong sense of belonging at this inclusive setting. Leaders and staff provide a highly supportive environment in which all children can learn, thrive and belong. They work closely with families to identify children's individual needs. When children join the setting, staff complete detailed assessments, which helps them to understand their starting points. Staff tailor the support children receive to help reduce barriers that may impact on their learning. This helps to ensure children make good progress within their capabilities. Staff support children who are unable to communicate verbally to use alternative ways of communicating. For example, they consistently use signs and key words to help children express their feelings and needs confidently. Children known or previously known to social care are fully included in the setting. Leaders and staff build positive relationships with parents and other professionals involved in children's care. This helps to support their emotional wellbeing effectively.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders and staff ensure that the curriculum is ambitious, inclusive and carefully sequenced to meet all children's individual needs. They provide many opportunities and support children in readiness for their next steps in learning. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make exceptional progress.

Staff use regular and precise assessment well. They skilfully build on what children already know and can do to extend their learning further. For example, they use children's previous experience of cooking and food tasting and provide meaningful opportunities for them to explore real food in the role-play area. Children use knives safely to cut food and investigate using their senses. For instance, children carefully peel back layers of an onion and describe the strong smell, noticing how it makes their eyes water. Staff use every opportunity to deepen children's understanding about why this happens. This helps to increase children's thinking skills.

Staff make good use of the forest area to promote all aspects of children's learning. They set out areas for plenty of exploration, physical and creative play. Staff deploy themselves well and provide genuine enthusiasm that excites children and encourages them to join in. Children excitedly use their imaginative ideas to create and act out their own stories. Staff skilfully model language, encourage turn-taking and celebrate cooperation. As a result, children behave exceptionally well and show exceptional confidence and physical abilities.

Achievement: Strong standard

All children make secure and sustained progress from their starting points, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or barriers to their learning. They develop valuable skills for their future, including their move on to school. Children's speech and language are developing extremely well. They are using a wide range of vocabulary and engage in meaningful conversations with those around them. For example, children engage in meaningful discussions about the Winter Olympics and link their learning to personal experiences, such as ice skating.

Children are independent in their personal care and care for others. They confidently manage routines throughout the day and make choices about their learning. As a result, all children leave the setting with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to help them succeed in the future.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders and staff have very high expectations for children's behaviour and use consistent approaches in helping children to understand rules and boundaries at the setting. Children are extremely kind, respectful and considerate to others. They very often, without prompting, tidy away resources, hold the door open for their friends, share and take turns during activities. Staff offer lots of praise and reassurance, which helps to build children's self-esteem.

Children engage positively with their friends, developing a strong sense of belonging. Staff are positive role models and teach children the setting's ethos of play, learn, achieve and belong. As a result, children show kindness to their friends by celebrating each other's achievements during activities. Overall, children show strong attitudes to learning. They are motivated, engaged and keen to try new things. For example, children keep trying to cut up vegetables until they succeed.

Leaders closely monitor children's attendance and ensure they follow up on any unexplained absences. This helps them to identify any support that may be required to support children's early education.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Children develop extremely close relationships with their key person and staff at this welcoming setting and develop a strong sense of belonging. Staff are remarkably thoughtful, kind and caring, providing a safe environment for all children. This ensures that children feel safe, secure and ready to learn. Staff successfully encourage all children to develop their independence skills, helping them to gain high levels of confidence in managing their own care needs. For example, children self-serve snacks, make choices in their play and manage personal tasks, such as wiping their nose, washing their hands and putting on their coats. This supports children's wellbeing effectively.

Children learn key language around emotions. Staff talk to the children about how they are feeling and how their behaviour makes others feel. Children are learning about how to recognise, express and manage their emotions.

Children benefit from many opportunities to access lots of fresh air and be physically active. Children explore natural materials in the forest area and learn to take manageable risks, keeping themselves and others safe in play. For example, children understand to keep spades down low when digging. These experiences support children's emotional and physical wellbeing.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders have extremely high expectations for the setting and place children's needs at the centre of everything they do. They consistently reflect on the care they provide and adapt to the changing needs of children and families. Overall, leaders are proactive in ensuring that children receive the very best experience at the setting.

Leaders know their families exceptionally well and work in close partnership to support children's learning and development. They organise events for parents to participate and engage in their children's learning. Furthermore, they provide resources to support children's learning at home. Leaders use additional funding to enable children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing barriers to their learning to access a full curriculum and reach their full potential.

Leaders prioritise staff's wellbeing and workload. Staff speak highly about the support they receive and feel they have ample opportunities for professional development. Training is carefully tailored to enhance staff's knowledge and skills, and is directly linked to the needs of children who attend. For example, staff attended training to support children's language skills further. This helps to promote positive outcomes for all children.