Ham Drive Nursery Daycare

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders and staff are committed to creating an inclusive culture. They take time to get to know all children and gather relevant information from parents about their children before they start at the setting. This helps staff to identify children who require support as soon as they start and promotes partnership work with parents. Leaders and staff are proactive in identifying how best to progress children. For instance, they hold regular review meetings with parents and relevant outside agencies. This means they are getting the support and advice they need to close gaps in learning and development, or when there are other barriers to progress.

Leaders and staff have systems in place to monitor children's ongoing learning and identify gaps in learning and development and barriers to learning. They make adaptations to reduce barriers to learning. For instance, they introduce visual pictures for children who cannot hear as well as their peers. However, staff do not always have the relevant training to consistently support children and fully extend their learning. Although children make progress, this is not as swift and effective as it could be. For example, not all staff use the agreed strategy to use visual pictures and signing to model communication, and those that use it, do not do this consistently.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders and staff have introduced an ambitious and clear curriculum to develop key skills, such as children being able to regulate their emotions and build effective physical skills. Children learn the 3 key expectations of the setting of being kind, listening and helping. This supports their understanding of how to interact positively with others and promotes their early social skill development. Staff get to know children and their families well and use this information to ensure that children widen their experiences and overcome barriers to learning. For example, they plan additional opportunities for children to run and move in open spaces when parents say these opportunities are limited in the home environment. Although staff know children well, on occasions, they do not always fully promote progress towards children's next steps and adapt activities to introduce additional challenge. For instance, staff know a child is working on developing accurate counting, but they do not always support this when the child is trying to count.

Staff place a priority on building a love of books. For instance, they regularly read with children in the setting and support reading at home with story bags that parents regularly borrow. They model language and introduce unknown words. They narrate children's play and introduce new vocabulary. For example, they encourage children to think if brushes are 'soft' or 'hard' and talk about the sand being 'squishy'. Overall, staff support early mathematical skills. They introduce words for shapes and capacity, such as 'more' and 'full', which children use independently in their play.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children typically make progress from their starting points across all areas of learning in the early years foundation stage. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to their learning and development. Gaps in learning are promptly identified and interventions put in place.

Overall, children make continuous progress in their educational outcomes, and they are prepared for their next stage of development. However, some children do not fully extend their independence and social skills at mealtimes. Also, children typically build effective communication skills, but staff are not always consistently using strategies to promote communication and understanding for all children, including those with speech and language delays, to fully maximise their progress.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders and staff prioritise building children's behaviour and positive attitudes to others. Children learn the rules and routines of the setting and behave very positively. Staff consistently support children's understanding and ability to create good relationships with their peers. For example, they remind children throughout the day of the setting's motto that 'We are kind' and that they need to use 'kind hands' when they want a toy that another child has. Staff are role models who show kindness and respect to children and their colleagues. They provide gentle prompts to support children to understand the expectations in an age-appropriate way and provide children with an abundance of praise. Children respond quickly to the prompts, and they play extremely harmoniously together.

Children show high levels of understanding when following the expected routines and demonstrate that these are embedded. Children benefit from these consistent and well-established events in the day that support their ability to regulate their behaviour. They build strong foundations of effective behaviours when playing, including for children with barriers to learning. For instance, children learn that it is time to stop their play to move on to another activity, or events such as snack and lunchtime, and do this positively and calmly.

Leaders and staff effectively monitor children's attendance. For instance, they use an online system to identify when children have not attended. They look at the reasons that children cannot attend and identify where parents may need support with issues and barriers to getting to the setting. They also remind parents of the benefits to children's development and building positive routines for children's later education. They work closely with parents and refer to outside agencies to ensure that parents and families receive help and to promote regular attendance.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Leaders and staff foster a culture that promotes children's wellbeing. They build effective relationships with all children. They are attentive to each child's individual care needs and adapt routines to support their happiness. For instance, when children have not slept well during the night due to teething and find themselves struggling to settle, staff offer additional cuddles and an earlier sleep than their normal routine. Children wake from the sleep smiling and show they are happy and settled by leaving their key person to play.

Overall, daily routines promote children's health and developing independence. For instance, children enjoy time outside in the fresh air and learn how to wash their hands before eating. They enjoy the nutritious snacks provided at snack time, and staff ensure they only provide foods that are safe to eat for children with dietary and allergy requirements. Although staff provide healthy snacks and offer some conversations to children, social interactions and good manners are not consistently promoted. Also, staff do not always extend children's understanding of healthy food choices or promote children's ability to build their independence and challenge themselves to tend to their own needs. For example, staff bring foods and drinks to children, and children are expected to sit and wait instead of learning how to do this themselves. This particularly limits the older children's independence and building on what they can already do. For example, they are not practising and extending their physical skills, such as the pouring, pinching and scooping that they are starting to develop at other times in the sand tray.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders have a clear understanding of the setting's strengths and the areas they want to improve. They evaluate practice regularly and take purposeful action to enhance children's experiences and support their learning and wellbeing. For example, they have invested in improving the outdoor environment to strengthen children's transitions and increase opportunities for outdoor learning. As a result, children spend more time outdoors and move confidently between rooms. Leaders work closely with parents, carers and outside agencies, such as health visitors, to support children's progress and build consistency in learning and care.

Leaders offer staff regular professional development and training relevant to the age range of the children. For instance, all staff receive training on interacting with and supporting the learning of babies. However, the process of supervision and identifying specific areas of development for individual staff is not yet fully embedded to promote teaching to the highest level and to meet the specific needs of staff's key children. Leaders do, however, focus on staff wellbeing, and staff comment on how much they feel valued and enjoy working with the team. This is reflected in the happy and positive environment staff create for children and families.