Emma's Kiddicare Pre-School

Inclusion: Strong standard

There is a highly positive and nurturing culture of inclusion. Leaders and staff demonstrate an unwavering commitment and consistently high expectations for children who face barriers to learning and development. They create an extremely supportive environment where children's unique personalities shine through. Leaders and staff know these children very well and use this detailed understanding to reduce barriers through thoughtful adaptations, personalised support and inclusive practice.

Leaders responsible for overseeing special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) provision play a pivotal role in ensuring children, including disadvantaged children fully access the curriculum, routines and experiences alongside their peers. Leaders and staff promptly identify gaps in children's development, work closely with external professionals and parents and carers and ensure children receive the right support at the right time. Leaders rigorously monitor these children's progress and carefully evaluate the impact of targeted interventions, such as speech and language support. As a result, children make sustained, secure progress over time, regardless of the barriers they face.

Leaders use additional funding strategically to meet children's individual needs. They work collaboratively with parents and professionals to identify enriching resources and experiences to promote progress towards children's next steps. For example, leaders and staff create cosy, calming spaces where children can have quiet time to regulate their emotions and build resilience. Consequently, additional funding ensures it has a significant impact that demonstrates improving outcomes for disadvantaged children.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Overall, leaders design an ambitious curriculum that generally builds on what children know and can do. They identify children's learning goals across all areas of development to support a step-by-step sequence. Staff demonstrate great confidence in delivering this sequenced approach for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), reflecting the extensive coaching, modelling and guidance from the leaders.

Generally, staff use observations to plan activities that capture children's interests and promote their development. For example, younger children strengthen the small muscles in their hands as they squeeze lemons to make 'lemonade'. This helps prepare them for more complex tasks, such as using scissors with increasing control.

During interactions, staff typically introduce new vocabulary to broaden children's language, such as describing lemons as 'sour' and 'bitter'. However, they do not always build precisely on individual children's existing knowledge and skills. For instance, when children are already confidently using rolling pins to flatten play dough, staff interrupt their play to model the same skill rather than recognising their competence and extending their learning through greater challenge. In addition, staff do not always recognise the need to support the quieter, less confident children to join in conversations or play with others.

Mathematical learning is woven into everyday routines and play experiences. For instance, staff encourage children to compare the height of stacked cups by identifying which is 'tall' or 'short'. In addition, water play provides opportunities to explore concepts such as 'full' and 'empty'. Experiences such as these help children develop their mathematical language and early understanding of measurement and space.

Achievement: Expected standard

In the main, children develop the knowledge and skills they need for their next stage in education. Those who face barriers to their learning make rapid progress, while other children make steady progress from their starting points. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are given a greater emphasis on support from leaders and staff, which has a positive impact on their speech, social interaction and emotional regulation. However, less confident, quiet children are not as well encouraged to join in with others' play. As a result, they tend to play alone or interact with others.

Children's communication and language development is generally supported well across the setting. Those with SEND engage enthusiastically with interactive songs, dancing and humming to familiar tunes. Children benefit from timely interventions, such as 'bucket time', helping them make significant progress in their attention, listening and communication skills. However, older children who are already competent communicators are not given consistent opportunities to articulate more complex idea, justify their thinking or extend conversations. As a result, the progress children's make is dependent on the quality of individual staff interactions.

Children develop a sense of community through regular visits to places of interest in the local area. For instance, they visit weekly car boot sales, where they help to select and purchase fruit and vegetables for their snack time. Children's decision-making and understanding of the world is promoted through meaningful, first-hand experiences such as these, helping to equip them with valuable skills for life long learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Typically, leaders create a welcoming and positive environment where children are eager to engage and learn. Children settle quickly and confidently explore the indoor and outdoor learning environments, either independently or alongside their peers and staff.

Overall, the key-person arrangements support children well to understand and follow familiar routines, such as lining-up sensibly to wash their hands before snack time. However, quieter, less confident children are not always identified as requiring the same level of encouragement as their more confident peers. At times, staff complete tasks for these children rather than giving them opportunities to try for themselves. For example, staff remove dough from children's hands and direct them what to do instead of allowing them time to explore freely. At other times, these quieter children are not encouraged to engage with others and remain playing alone. This impacts these children's confidence, independence and ability to seek support from familiar adults when they need reassurance or wish to share their thoughts and feelings.

For children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), staff place an emphasis on promoting communication and cooperative play. Through carefully planned interventions using engaging, unfamiliar toys, these children watch attentively, listen with interest and recall knowledge and skills from previous sessions. For instance, they use signs and gestures to express themselves, such as signing 'finished', to indicate they are ready to move on. This shows children's willingness to continually learn, grow and develop.

Leaders promote regular attendance and punctuality. They have a secure understanding of some families' individual circumstances and work closely with parents to reinforce the importance of attending the setting regularly for children's wellbeing, continuity in learning and overall development.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Leaders prioritise children's physical and emotional wellbeing through effective care routines. Generally, children build warm, secure relationships with their key person and staff work closely with families to provide continuity between home and the setting. This is particularly effective for children who face barriers to their development. For example, staff work collaboratively with parents and carers to encourage healthy, nutritious packed lunches and support children to widen the range of foods they eat. However, staff relationships with quieter, less confident children are not yet, as well established.

Staff use a range of effective techniques and resources to help children recognise and regulate their emotions, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For instance, they use 'feelings cards', encourage physical activity in the fresh air and provide cosy spaces where children can relax while sharing books with caring, responsive staff. This focus on emotional wellbeing helps these children develop confidence, resilience and positive relationships with staff and peers.

Overall, staff promote healthy lifestyles naturally through everyday routines. During mealtimes, they discuss healthy choices and the importance of brushing teeth. Children have constant access to fresh drinking water and are gently reminded to take sips of water to stay hydrated, especially in the hot weather. They confidently follow hygiene practices, independently washing their hands and remembering to use soap in between their fingers before meals and after using the toilet. These approaches help children develop healthy habits and an understanding of how to keep themselves fit and well.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders have a clear vision and maintain a positive ethos for staff and children. They focus on continual improvement over time, such as successfully strengthening staff's training to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and ensuring guidance from external professionals to shared effectively to meet these children's individual needs. Leaders also seek timely advice from local authority advisers and proactively identify areas for growth, such as increasing shaded outdoor spaces for those children who prefer to spend more quality time in the fresh air. However, leaders are yet to give the same strategic focus to ensuring all children consistently receive the highest quality learning experiences. For example, opportunities to broaden the vocabulary of confident communicators and plan more precisely for quieter, less confident children are not consistently embedded. This limits some children's progress towards their full potential.

Leaders provide regular supervision and ongoing support to help staff feel valued and manage their workloads. Professional development around identifying and supporting children with SEND has had a significant impact, enabling staff to meet, and even exceed, these children's individual targets. However, there is less emphasis on developing all staff's practice with other children, such as with the quieter, less confident individuals. Consequently, teaching quality varies across the setting, resulting in inconsistencies in how well children are supported to reach their full potential.

Leaders and staff establish trusted partnerships with parents and carers, particularly those whose children face barriers to their development. Parents speak highly about the guidance they receive from leaders, including practical strategies to continue their children's learning at home. This collaborative approach promotes consistency and helps to prepare children for their eventual move to school.