Hare Hatch Montessori

Inclusion: Exceptional

Leaders and staff have an incredibly nurturing approach and meet children's individual needs with an inspiring commitment. They are extremely effective at identifying and responding to children's special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), cultural and language needs. Staff have an excellent understanding of implementing the graduated approach. They use observations and assessments extremely successfully to promptly identify children's emerging SEND, speech delays or emotional vulnerability. Leaders ensure all children receive exemplary individualised support to meet their needs even in unexpected circumstances. For example, leaders quickly identify additional training for staff and organise staffing to offer one-to-one care to children when required. This meets children's individual needs in a meticulous, highly responsive way.

Leaders and staff use additional funding with the utmost care to provide a wealth of opportunities for children and families. This includes staff training specific to meet children's needs at the highest level, such as intensive interactions. Staff support children through enriching interactions to ensure they are all fully involved in routines and learning. Leaders work in excellent partnership with external professionals and parents to ensure children progress rapidly from their starting points. In addition, leaders provide guidance to other settings about SEND and become involved in shaping local policies to narrow the gap for all children. Staff work exceptionally well with parents, helping them to support their children's needs. Parents describe feeling listened to and very well guided, including when families face complex circumstances.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders design a coherent curriculum across all areas of learning and development. They organise mixed-age groups intentionally so that children learn from one another. Leaders regularly review the quality of teaching and provide feedback to ensure the curriculum is implemented consistently. Staff plan focused activities that build knowledge in small steps and use assessment to identify next steps.

Practitioners model language and thinking clearly. They extend learning through questioning and adapt expectations so that all children are appropriately challenged. Daily routines support early literacy and independence by providing opportunities to read, write and take responsibility within authentic contexts. For example, children recognise their names and select responsibilities as they arrive in the morning.

Staff demonstrate secure subject knowledge, introduce mathematical language during play and encourage children to explain their thinking. Older children repeat mathematical phrases when comparing quantities and deciding if they match. During circle time, children sequence the months and say, 'December is when Baby Jesus was born', showing recall and making connections.

Staff expertly use visual prompts and sign language, such as Makaton, to reduce any barriers for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and ensure they seamlessly access all aspects of the curriculum.

Achievement: Strong standard

Children are very well prepared for their next stage of learning, including school. They develop secure foundations in communication and language, sustaining conversations, recalling prior knowledge and applying new vocabulary confidently in play and group discussions.

Children demonstrate connected knowledge and apply it independently across all areas of learning. For example, children count with accuracy, recognise and represent numerals in different ways, reason mathematically and draw on prior experiences to explain their thinking. They explore the natural world with curiosity, describe features of living things and use remembered knowledge to deepen understanding. Children sustain concentration, persevere with challenges and take pride in taking on responsibilities.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning make consistent and sustained progress from their starting points. Adapted communication approaches and predictable routines enable them to participate fully in learning with growing confidence, resilience and independence.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Exceptional

Staff promote a calm and respectful environment throughout the nursery. Expectations for behaviour are clear and consistently reinforced. The registration routine and daily allocation of responsibilities help children begin the day purposefully and understand their role within the community.

Children show very positive attitudes to learning. They take ownership of responsibilities, stating, 'I am laying the table today,' and approach tasks with confidence. When challenges arise, staff offer calm guidance and encouragement, supporting children to try again and develop resilience. Children increasingly manage their own feelings and behaviour and return to learning quickly following minor difficulties.

Staff explicitly teach kindness, cooperation and turn-taking. They guide children to resolve small disagreements using agreed language and encourage them to consider how others feel. As a result, children demonstrate empathy, invite others into play and work together harmoniously, contributing to a purposeful and joyful environment.

Leaders monitor attendance closely and take prompt action where patterns of absence or lateness emerge. They work with families to strengthen daily routines, particularly where children face additional challenges, ensuring consistent attendance and readiness for school.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Exceptional

Leaders place children's welfare at the centre of daily practice. They ensure that care routines are personalised, consistent and responsive to children's changing needs. Practitioners adapt sleep, rest and mealtime arrangements sensitively, enabling children to make independent choices while maintaining clear expectations for health and safety. Children confidently manage hygiene routines and understand why these matter.

Secure attachments are evident across the setting. Children seek reassurance when needed and return quickly to learning because adults respond promptly and calmly to emotional cues. Practitioners successfully teach children how to recognise feelings and use agreed strategies to regulate themselves. As a result, children demonstrate growing resilience and emotional security.

Leaders ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing additional challenges receive tailored support that promotes stability and continuity. Care plans are reviewed with external professionals when required, and adjustments are meticulously embedded into daily routines.

Children learn how to keep themselves safe. Adults model careful handling of tools and natural materials and explain risks clearly. The outdoor environment promotes physical development, strength and confidence. Children feel safe, valued and secure, which helps them thrive.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leadership is reflective, principled and firmly centred on securing the best outcomes for children and their families. Leaders articulate a clear educational ethos. Long-standing relationships within the community strengthen this work and provide continuity for children. Leaders model high expectations for inclusion, communication and respectful interactions. Staff mirror these expectations consistently in their conduct and decision-making.

Leaders make timely and proportionate decisions that prioritise children's safety, stability and learning. They respond swiftly when needs change and work constructively with external professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing additional challenges. All staff are trained to support children with additional needs.

Leaders sustain a culture of continuous improvement. Professional development is purposeful and aligned to the setting's improvement priorities. Regular supervision and careful management of workload promote staff wellbeing and consistency for children. Close partnership with the schools the nursery feeds into supports a clear and well-planned pathway for transition, which parents value and rely on.