Elan Nursery

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders and staff are wholeheartedly dedicated to ensuring that children consistently benefit from inclusive practices. Everyone involved with children understands the nursery's inclusive culture. This guarantees that each child has the chance to grow, thrive and succeed from their individual starting points. The highly skilled workforce applies constantly positive interactions with children based on their extensive knowledge of child development. This enables staff to recognise that various factors can hinder children's learning and development. Staff and leaders collaborate closely with parents and carers, external agencies and the local authority to implement timely and highly successful interventions. Additionally, thorough information-sharing with parents and ongoing discussions help establish clear next steps in learning. This ensures that parents are informed about how they can support their children's education at home.

Staff undertake regular assessments on all children to track and monitor their progress and identify areas that may need further development. They implement strategies swiftly to ensure the biggest impact on the outcomes for children. Staff follow children's personalised routines and consistently apply targeted interventions. For example, in response to supporting children's behaviour and regulating their feelings, staff have created cosy corners where children have access to a range of sensory resources. This allows children to take autonomy over when they may need to take time away from being around other children. Staff are on hand to support them to understand and verbalise the way they are feeling.

Previous additional funding has been used effectively across the provision to create physical spaces for children. It has also been used to build a collection of home-learning packs that can go home with children to support their learning and development. Leaders review the interventions put in place with additional funding, so they can monitor the impact.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders have developed an effective and ambitious curriculum that prioritises children's social, emotional, language and physical development. The high quality and consistent interactions with children across the nursery promotes high levels of engagement, contentment and progress for all. Children are consistently busy and fully engaged in their play and learning because staff know children, their barriers to learning or special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) incredibly well.

Children demonstrate an impressive level of curiosity in everything they engage in. They understand that staff are there to assist and guide their play. From babies to pre-school children, they are fascinated by the lessons the staff provide. Children demonstrate great determination and perseverance to accomplish tasks independently. The experiences that staff create to extend children's learning also motivate them to explore. For instance, babies and young children who are learning to control their movements tackle stairs, slides and climbing structures to enhance their core strength.

Leaders and staff prioritise adapting the curriculum effectively to ensure that children with SEND or barriers to their learning can fully engage. For instance, the environment is rich in language. Staff consistently expose children to repeated phrases, positional language and place an emphasis on the value of books and stories. It is common to see children bringing their favourite books to staff and taking a moment to enjoy some quiet reading. This practice is evident both indoors and outdoors. This highlights the significance of these moments and the idea that reading and stories can be appreciated anywhere. Additionally, to meet the needs of children who speak English as an additional language, staff have acquired books in the languages that reflect the children enrolled. They have also introduced reading pens that translate text into various languages. This fosters a fully inclusive approach.

Staff make sure that mathematical learning is integrated into every activity. For instance, children are consistently exposed to numbers. Staff use positional language to help children understand concepts, such as, 'on top', 'underneath' and 'next to'. This is further enhanced by number rhymes and active involvement. Staff also introduce children to concepts of shape, space, and measurement as they play with water. Children fill and empty containers and plant seeds, learning how much soil they need to fill their pots.

Achievement: Strong standard

Children consistently perform well from their initial levels and develop a positive approach to learning. This success is attributed to effective initial assessments and regular ongoing evaluations throughout the year. These assessments are routinely discussed with parents and carers during face-to-face meetings, ensuring that everyone involved with the children has a clear understanding of their skills, strengths and areas where they may require additional support or interventions. These assessments then feed through to the nursery's effective and well-developed improvement plans.

Children have numerous chances throughout their daily routines to develop skills that foster their independence in learning. This practice begins in the baby room, where even the youngest children receive encouragement to make choices regarding their bibs, cups and cutlery. The nursery environment is both calm and enriching, giving children sufficient time to absorb and integrate both their past and new learning experiences.

Children are remarkably well equipped for their transitions into nursery, through the different age groups, and ultimately for their move on to pre-school.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Children exhibit excellent behaviour. They demonstrate a level of care and consideration for others that surpasses typical expectations for their age and development stage. Leaders and staff create a serene and supportive learning environment for infants and toddlers. They offer learning experiences that captivate, inspire and foster positive attitudes towards learning.

Daily routines are thoughtfully organised, integrated and smooth. Children experience consistent transitions between sleep times, mealtimes and transitioning around the nursery. This makes it easy for them to engage in their play and learning. Staff promptly praise children for their positive behaviour and serve as excellent role models. They consistently demonstrate the behaviours they wish to see in children, such as sharing and using polite language. In the event of minor behavioural incidents, staff are well deployed so that they can quickly address issues, preventing any escalation of emotions effectively.

Staff employ a variety of proven techniques to help children understand to the expectations for their behaviour. For example, they read books about kindness, create cosy and calming spaces for children to regulate their behaviour and foster close relationships with key staff members. For instance, when children needed reassurance about visitors in their rooms, they approach their key people to enquire about who these individuals are. Staff encourage children to use the lanyards they wear to help them express their feelings. This allows children to communicate their thoughts and emotions. This also highlights the effectiveness of the key-person approach.

Leaders understand the importance of attendance in supporting outcomes for children. They share this information with parents and have effective systems in place to support parents and carers in getting their children to nursery for their allocated sessions. Leaders have built such warm and trusting relationships with parents. This encourages parents to come forward with any concerns or struggles they may have in maintaining their children's attendance.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders and staff create a safe and welcoming environment for all children which supports children to flourish. There are supportive handovers each day between parents and carers and staff. This promotes consistency in the care for each individual child. Staff are incredibly responsive to children's care needs. They regularly communicate between each other to meet these needs swiftly. Staff working with the youngest children in the baby room have a sound understanding of safe sleep practices and consistently promote these. Care routines are undertaken with compassion. For example, staff will tell children before wiping their noses, in order to teach them about having autonomy over their own bodies. Care practices are undertaken with children's privacy and dignity at the forefront.

The nursery catering team prepares nutritious meals that are thoroughly enjoyed by all children. The menu is carefully crafted to consider children's dietary and cultural requirements. This information is shared with all staff. Ongoing discussions with parents, along with carefully recorded information, enables staff to know exactly what weaning stage children are at so food can be prepared accordingly. Staff also share ideas with parents regarding the food their children have enjoyed, to support eating at home.

Children benefit from a wide range of experiences and opportunities to develop their physical skills and learn about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. For example, the nursery funds sessions with sports coaches and yoga teachers. Staff use the local community as a learning tool for the children. Children take regular trips to visit the library, shops, parks and places of interest. They show such maturity as they return from their trips, wearing their high-visibility jackets and holding onto the walking rope, excited to tell staff about what they have seen on their scavenger hunt.

Leaders have established a successful, seamless and collaborative approach to transitions that fully engages both parents and staff. For instance, settling-in sessions with, and without parents, allow children to gain confidence before they begin on their own. Many parents return with younger siblings, and where possible, the same key individuals are assigned to continue nurturing the incredibly supportive relationships that have been developed with parents. When it is time for children to transition to pre-school, those responsible for their care, including their key person, inclusion lead, designated safeguarding lead and leaders, all come together to ensure a thorough handover. Most children go on to attend the sister setting for their pre-school years, where they are taken on visits to help them prepare for their transition.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders are truly inspirational. They possess a deep passion for ensuring that every child can succeed and flourish, regardless of their individual needs. Leaders have a deep understanding of, and have cultivated, an inclusive culture that is commendable and should be shared with other settings. They maintain high expectations and have built a knowledgeable and supportive team of educators who consistently work towards achieving these elevated standards of care and education.

Leaders fully appreciate and recognise the important work their staff do. They are mindful of staff's workloads and prioritise their wellbeing, happiness and success. For instance, there is a wellbeing budget that allows staff to enjoy lunches and receive care packages as a token of appreciation for their hard work. Staff have regular opportunities to meet with leaders to discuss their goals, training and development plans. The happiness of the staff in their roles is evident in everything they do.

Leaders understand the importance of self-reflection. They spend time in each room to live what it is like for a child to attend the nursery to inform their development plans. Leaders plans are precise and focus precisely on what the nursery, children and staff need next. Children at the heart of all decisions that leaders make.

Leaders take the initiative to build deep-working relationships with the families of the children they serve, as well as with external providers and the local authority. They make sure that any extra funding is used effectively to enhance the learning experiences for children. Leaders closely track the impact of this funding to reflect on future spending, ensuring it achieves the intended results.