Giant Steps on The Borough

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders and staff prioritise inclusion and have embedded a highly inclusive culture where all children feel valued and supported. They form effective, trusting and supportive bonds with families from the start, gathering important information about each child. The robust assessment and monitoring procedures help staff to quickly identify when additional support for children is required. This means that children receive the appropriate level of support they need to progress throughout the curriculum. Staff have a secure understanding of each child and their emerging needs; they use this information to shape purposeful play and learning experiences that children can freely access. Parents comment on how they feel listened to, valued and well supported in implementing strategies to support children at home. For example, regular home-learning opportunities aim to further support children's personal, social and emotional development as well as enhance their communication and language skills. Leaders are flexible with their approach to supporting families. For example, leaders adapt settling-in sessions to meet children's needs, building up the length and frequency of their visits to build familiarity and self-confidence.

Leaders work excellently with external professionals to provide tailored support plans, embed highly impactful strategies and ensure the environment suits the needs and abilities of all children within the setting. For example, staff and children together have created individualised sensory boxes to support their self-regulation and sensory needs. Children independently access specific sensory toys when they are feeling upset. This demonstrates that children have an emerging awareness of their own feelings and how they can manage these. Leaders use additional funding to personalise children's experiences, including resources that support children's personal, social and emotional development. Leaders and staff ensure they target training to meet the needs of children and share new knowledge with all staff to provide consistency. They work closely with the local authority, local schools and parents to ensure a collaborative approach to children's learning. For example, leaders regularly meet to discuss children's needs and abilities, providing supportive and gradual transitions for children from other settings and on to school.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have recently introduced a new curriculum that is ambitious and covers all key areas of the curriculum. Staff plan and deliver a curriculum that generally supports children's progress across all areas of learning. They work together well as a team to consider what resources and activities to provide, based on children's interests and next steps. This means that all children make steady progress in their learning and are well supported. However, staff do not always tailor their teaching to fully target children's individual next steps in learning. This limits opportunities for children to further build on what they know and can do. Staff know children well, including their starting points, needs and stages of development. Children enjoy working together as they pretend to be mechanics fixing the bikes outside and others explore their creativity when making their own creations using small construction. Staff promote children's communication and language through daily stories and singing, and children enjoy learning sign language. Staff help children to recall what they have learned, helping to embed learning. They introduce new words and consistently narrate to children, helping children to become confident communicators.

Staff provide opportunities that help children to develop their early maths skills, skilfully weaving these through daily routines. Children learn new concepts, such as estimating quantities and checking their guesses with the correct answer. Children count confidently and name shapes, including 3-D shapes, such as cube.

Leaders and staff place a high focus on children's personal, social and emotional development. They support children to express their emotions and implement a variety of ways for children to make their own choices around this. For example, children access personal resources when they feel overwhelmed and use the 'calm choices board' to help them direct their focus and attention. Staff respond sensitively, helping children to feel safe and secure.

Achievement: Expected standard

All children make sustained progress from their starting points across all areas of the curriculum and are well prepared for their next stage of learning, including school. Children show high levels of focus and engagement when pouring water to and from various-sized containers. They use their senses to smell various flavours of opened tea bags and excitedly share these with staff. Children learn to navigate space and test their balance and stability as they ride bikes outside. Children independently sit and form letters of their favourite animals, developing their pencil control, and others enjoy colouring and painting. Children chat happily with their peers, sharing their experiences, including where they have been on holiday. Children listen attentively and show a genuine interest in their back-and-forth conversations. They use mathematical language, such as taller and one more, and begin to estimate when counting. Children explore shapes and confidently name these. Although children access a range of activities and enjoy these, leaders should support staff to tailor their teaching more precisely to help children to further build on their skills and knowledge.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders and staff have embedded clear, consistent and supportive approaches to behaviour. They maintain high expectations for children and adapt these to suit their ages and abilities. This ensures all children know what is expected of them throughout the day. This helps them to feel safe and secure in their environment. Staff use gentle reminders to guide children, including wiping their feet on the mat and to use their walking feet inside, teaching them about personal safety. Children demonstrate deep engagement and enjoyment through their play, maintaining positive attitudes throughout. Recent adaptations to the environment have led to an increase in focus and collaboration with their peers.

Staff use highly impactful strategies to help children manage transitions meticulously. Staff recognise when children need extra time to process what is happening next, and use visual aids and timers. This leads to seamless transitions that positively impact children's self-regulation. For example, when children hear the timer to finish, they immediately stop and let each other know it is carpet time. Staff are excellent role models and help children to begin to manage conflict for themselves. This encourages children's resilience and problem-solving. Children and staff have formed wonderful, nurturing and trusting relationships with each other.

Leaders carefully monitor attendance so that children benefit fully from their experiences at the setting. From the start, leaders explain to parents and carers the importance of arriving on time and of notifying staff of any absences. They follow up absences with families and offer support where needed.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders and staff place a keen focus on supporting children's welfare and wellbeing. They create a nurturing and supportive environment, helping children to flourish in developing their awareness of their physical and emotional needs. Staff are highly responsive to children's needs and follow well-established routines that have been adapted to suit the needs of individual children. For example, staff work closely with parents and carers to prepare transitions to support those children who struggle within new environments and with separation from parents. This creates positive partnerships from the start and helps children to feel valued and heard. Staff use social stories to help prepare children for new experiences such as 'leavers' parties'. This positively supports children's sense of belonging, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those who face barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

Children successfully engage in routines that promote healthy lifestyles. For example, they wash their hands and attend to their own toileting needs. Children self-serve and use cutlery confidently as they enjoy a healthy nutritious meal. Staff talk with children about healthy foods and ensure they monitor lunchboxes to keep in line with healthy eating guidance. Staff promote oral hygiene and children enjoy visits to the local dentist. Children have ample opportunity to develop their physical skills and manage their own risks safely with daily access to outside, supporting their physical health and wellbeing. Staff are mindful of creating calm spaces for children, recognising the importance of this to help with self-regulation. They implement co-regulation techniques such as holding children's hands and breathing together, helping children to regulate their emotions and behaviour. Children adopt these strategies and this creates an environment where children begin to manage their own feelings. Children develop awareness of how to begin to look after themselves.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Dedicated leaders care about their roles and responsibilities in providing high-quality care and education for children. They use self-evaluation well to inform improvements and build on their strengths. They share improvement plans with staff to provide open and transparent working relationships and goals. Recent changes to the curriculum and the environment have had a positive impact on children's wellbeing, routines and focus. However, leaders have yet to reflect on staff deployment during child-led times to ensure children access consistent high-quality teaching. Leaders provide ongoing commitment to the wellbeing of staff and staff report high levels of enjoyment in their roles. Staff undertake targeted training by leaders to help expand their knowledge and skills. For example, leaders have worked closely with the local authority and staff to embed effective strategies, helping to reduce barriers in children's learning. Leaders make decisions based on the best interests of children and families.

Leaders have formed trusting relationships with parents and carers and value their feedback. Parents comment positively on the swift identification of when children need additional support and value the home-learning strategies offered by staff. Parents value the flexibility of starting procedures and appreciate the care that staff show in supporting their children. Leaders have created a real sense of community; they engage with community fetes and provide opportunities for parents to attend events, such as Easter fun days. Leaders engage with local schools and welcome teachers to visit to support children's transitions on to school.