Crocus Early Years (Hinxton Hall Nursery)

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders and staff show a deep commitment to supporting all children and prioritise each child's individual needs. From the outset, they work closely with parents, carers and other professionals to create a joined-up approach to children's care and learning. Through this collaboration, staff consistently identify children's needs early and put support in place quickly and effectively.

Inclusion is deeply embedded across the setting. Leaders and staff are highly attuned to children who may face barriers to learning and wellbeing. They plan and deliver targeted support and carefully monitor each child's development to ensure they are making the best possible progress. Staff intuitively adapt their approaches to meet children's individual needs. For example, they provide talking photo albums to support children who are new to the country, helping them to feel safe and settled. Staff engage in ongoing training to deepen their understanding of children's emotional wellbeing and use this knowledge to provide precise, responsive support.

Leaders and staff ensure that all children make the best possible progress from their starting points. They create a nurturing and inclusive environment that builds children's confidence, independence and sense of belonging. This secure foundation supports all children's ongoing learning and prepares them well for the next stage of their development.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders and staff provide a highly ambitious and inclusive curriculum that places a clear focus on children's wellbeing. They carefully design learning opportunities to precisely match children's needs and interests, building on their previous experiences over time. For example, pre-school children become deeply engaged in scientific experiments. Staff ask thoughtful, well-timed questions that encourage children to think critically, make predictions and explore their ideas through hands-on experiences. Children enthusiastically talk about the reactions and changes they observe.

Teaching is of a consistently high quality. Staff treat every interaction as an opportunity to support children's learning and development. Across the nursery, mathematical teaching is naturally woven into children's experiences. For instance, young children listen to number songs during daily routines, toddlers explore shape and space as they tip and pour water, and older children develop problem-solving skills as they work out how many flowers are left when making potions. Staff consistently respond to children's interests in the moment and adapt their interactions to reinforce and extend learning.

Staff inspire and build on children's interest and preference to play outside. Through planned forest kindergarten sessions, they teach children about the natural world around them. Children learn about plants that will hurt them such as nettles. They learn to take supervised risk as they climb trees, jump in puddles and thoroughly enjoy creating mud slides. Staff teach children about sustainable living as they grow and harvest vegetables, such as radishes and spring onions, and talk about recycling.

Achievement: Strong standard

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning, make substantial progress from their starting points. From the start of their care, they develop a deep sense of security, and this enables them to access the wider curriculum with growing confidence, independence and self-belief. Subsequently, children are extremely well prepared for the next stage of their learning, including their eventual move to school.

Children of all ages gain secure communication skills. They confidently use a range of approaches to express themselves, suited to their age and stage of development. For example, babies babble and gesture, knowing their cues will be acted upon swiftly by staff. Older children talk confidently to each other as they discuss and predict how far their water will spray while using water sprayers.

Children show high levels of perseverance to do things for themselves, from taking their first steps to pouring water from full jugs and climbing trees. They are curious and imaginative, showing sustained levels of attention as they play.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders establish a calm, predictable and inclusive environment where high expectations are clearly embedded. Consistently secure relationships between children and staff are a key strength of this nursery. Leaders and staff place great emphasis on ensuring that secure and robust key-person systems are in place and are implemented effectively to support children's changing needs and behaviours. Children show they feel safe and supported, confidently seeking out adults for reassurance and engagement if needed.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff act as excellent role models, and children replicate their behaviours through their highly positive interactions with others. Young children learn how to resolve minor conflicts with others and do so with increasing confidence and resilience. Staff allow children time and space to manage their emotions and are on hand to ensure that they consistently feel supported and understood.

Routines are well embedded, and leaders continually reflect on how to implement transition times to further support children's learning and development. Children move seamlessly through different parts of the day, for instance as they move from carpet activities to mealtimes, and fully understand what is expected of them. As a result, children demonstrate high levels of independence, confidence and self-regulation. This calm purposeful flow of the day maximises learning time and enables children to remain highly engaged and ready to learn.

Leaders consistently monitor and track children's attendance and have clear policies in place to follow up on children's absences. They work closely with parents and carers to help them understand the benefit of regular attendance and the positive impact attendance has on their child's development.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders and staff create a warm, welcoming and positive environment where children's welfare and wellbeing are prioritised. Staff know children incredibly well and understand their individual needs and nuanced changes in their wellbeing. They are consistently responsive to ensure children's needs are promptly met. This helps children to feel safe, secure, valued and develop a sense of belonging. Staff carefully consider children's sleep patterns, mirroring home routines as much as possible. They consistently follow the latest government safe sleep guidance to assure children's wellbeing and safety. Staff implement highly effective adaptations to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who may face barriers to learning. For example, they ensure that mealtimes are safe, inclusive and accessible for all children and provide dedicated time and appropriate space for children to attend to their own personal, medical or hygiene needs.

Staff provide consistent support to help children gain independence in managing their hygiene routines. Children promptly wash their fingers and face after mealtimes and receive lots of encouragement when they start to manage their personal care. Staff consistently seek babies' and children's consent when supporting their care routines, such as when they change nappies or wipe children's noses.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders truly have children's interests at the heart of all they do. They set high standards for themselves, staff and children and provide professional support that inspires all to achieve the best they can. Leaders are ambitious for what all children can learn, and they invest in staff to enable them to provide high-quality teaching and learning experiences. They have an accurate view of the quality of teaching and identify areas to enhance so that children develop a secure sense of belonging, achieve well and thrive in the care of dedicated and professional staff.

Leaders are highly experienced and nurture staff to continuously develop their professional knowledge and skills. Staff say that they feel valued and well supported to fulfil their roles and to explore and introduce new ideas to practice. For example, staff attend training in forest kindergarten and deliver planned sessions in the setting. This enhances children's experiences and knowledge as they learn in the natural environment, building self-confidence and resilience.

Leaders place high priority on building secure professional relationships with parents and with other professionals who may support children. They instinctively adapt routines with staff to ensure that all children, including those who face barriers to learning, receive tailored support that enables them to feel safe and secure, and reassurance that their individual needs are consistently met. This includes purposeful use of any additional funding children may receive to support their individual learning.