Footsteps Wilmslow

Inclusion: Expected standard

When children first start attending, staff gather a wealth of information from parents about children's abilities and individual needs. Leaders are aware of the different needs of children and families within the community they serve. They are proactive in identifying and assessing when children may have barriers to their learning and children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff build positive relationships with parents and carers to maintain continuity between home and the setting. They plan home visits which positively impact children. These visits help staff to develop secure relationships with children and their families, and enable them to settle and transition into the setting effectively.

Leaders put targeted reasonable adjustments into place to support any gaps in learning. For example, staff use sign language to support children's communication skills. These are typically implemented well by staff to enable children to make progress in their learning. Staff monitor children's development and generally adjust activities and the environment to support children's individual progress. Leaders work with a range of professionals to make sure children receive the right help at the right time. They implement specialist speech and language activities to support children's communication and language skills.

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

Leaders have begun to take action to improve the curriculum and teaching. However, this is in the early stages and has not had an impact yet. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those with barriers to learning receive the right support to access the curriculum. However, the curriculum in some of the rooms across the setting is not yet consistently sequenced or implemented well enough to ensure that children build succinctly on their next steps in learning.

Children have the opportunity to take part in daily activities. For example, younger children explore the textures of feathers and older children explore paint and shapes. Staff monitor children's development. However, some children's next steps are not always unique to their gaps in learning. As a result, some activities generally do not build on children's existing skills and lack a clear purpose. For example, children explore animals in the water tray, but staff do not expand on children's thoughts and ideas. This impacts on the engagement and progress of children's development.

Staff read stories and rhymes to children regularly throughout the day. Older children develop autonomy as they choose their favourite stories and staff read with enthusiasm. Younger children join in with familiar actions and rhymes. These opportunities help children to develop a love for reading and songs.

Achievement: Needs attention

Some children do not consistently make progress across all of the areas of learning and development. This is due to the weaknesses in the curriculum and teaching. For example, some children move quickly between activities and do not sustain engagement for extended periods. This limits their opportunities to achieve well.

Children who face barriers to their learning or have special educational needs and/or disabilities make steady progress from their individual starting points. For example, this is particularly evident in their personal, social and emotional development as they settle into the setting well and are eager to play. Furthermore, children demonstrate progress in their language development. Babies join in with repeating single words, such as 'rhino' as they explore the animals. Older children expand on the meaning of vocabulary as they read stories. They explain 'exhausted means tired'. Children are developing a wide range of vocabulary from an early age.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Needs attention

There are inconsistencies in how some staff support children's behaviour. Some staff do not consistently support children's behaviour. For example, when children throw sand at their friends, staff do not always support children to understand their actions and the impact their behaviour has on others. This means that some children do not develop an understanding of boundaries.

Some parts of the routine are not organised effectively to sustain children's attention. For example, during transitions to mealtimes and sleep time, children wait for long periods of time. This causes disruption to some children's routine, and they become disengaged from their learning. Children are provided with opportunities at mealtimes to develop their independence skills. For example, children pour their own drinks and self-serve their own meals. They develop some key skills they will need for the future.

Leaders promote a positive culture of attendance. Children attend punctually and frequently, and leaders have procedures in place to monitor any absences and support consistent routines and continuity in children's learning and care. Staff are positive, calm and affectionate towards children. They praise and recognise children's achievements which boosts their self-esteem. They support children in a caring manner when transitioning into the setting. This helps children to settle.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Needs attention

The key-person system is not fully embedded consistently across the setting. While staff in the baby room have a secure understanding of the key children's routines, this is not consistent across the setting. When there are changes to staffing, leaders do not ensure that all staff have a secure understanding of children's individual needs. While children develop secure attachments with staff, their learning needs are not sufficiently met.

Children learn about their personal hygiene skills. For example, children are supported to wash their hands after wiping their noses. Children enjoy healthy mealtimes, and adaptations are made for children with dietary or food preferences appropriately. However, there are limited opportunities to develop children's understanding of healthy eating during these times.

Older children learn about how to keep themselves safe. Children confidently demonstrate the skills to continually risk assess the environment around them. For example, they recognise that when water is on the floor this becomes a slip hazard. Children have a variety of opportunities to explore the outdoors and further develop their physical skills.

Leadership and governance: Needs attention

There has been a change of leadership since the last inspection. The new leadership team are aware of the strengths and areas of development of the setting. They have begun taking action to improve the implementation of the curriculum for children. However, leaders' actions have yet to make the improvements needed to improve the quality of teaching and children's learning experiences.

Leaders have worked hard to develop aspects of practice that were previously highlighted. Since the last visit, leaders have taken action to improve staff's knowledge and understanding of risk assessment procedures to ensure children's safety. They carry out spot checks to ensure staff are following procedures at all times. In addition, leaders have ensured that all staff have received a supervision and professional development opportunities to further enhance their knowledge and skills. For example, recent training on safer eating and safer sleep has supported staff to develop a deeper understanding of these procedures. Leaders have implemented new procedures for staff taking medication to ensure they remain suitable to work with children. Furthermore, leaders identify safeguarding concerns accurately and take appropriate, immediate action. They have provided staff with refresher training on whistleblowing to strengthen their understanding of the safeguarding policies and procedures. This has helped to strengthen safeguarding arrangements at the setting.

Staff report positive levels of wellbeing and support from leaders. Staff feel valued and enjoy working in a team. Leaders and staff build secure relationships with parents and families. They have established links with local schools to help support children's transitions to the next stage in their education.