Hoglets Daycare Ltd

Inclusion: Expected standard

All children's progress is assessed regularly, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing disadvantage. This means gaps in their learning are identified and supported well. Staff demonstrate their understanding of the graduated approach, using assessment to identify children's needs and to plan targeted interventions.

Children's individual support plans are reviewed regularly and shared with parents. They are adapted as children progress. Leaders use additional funding, such as the early years pupil premium and the special educational needs inclusion fund, to reduce barriers to learning and encourage children's interests. This includes increasing staffing to provide focused, one-to-one support.

The special educational needs coordinator accesses ongoing professional development and shares learning across the team to strengthen inclusive practice. Leaders evaluate provision continuously and make timely referrals to external agencies, securing additional advice and support when needed. Partnership working with parents and professionals ensures consistency between home and the nursery. As a result, children with additional needs and those facing disadvantage are increasingly able to access the full curriculum and make steady, sustained progress in their learning and wellbeing.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders are passionate about providing high-quality learning experiences for children who attend their setting, including those with barriers to their learning. Leaders plan their curriculum around the natural environment and provide children with resilience, independence and communication skills and a love of learning. The curriculum is sequenced to ensure learning opportunities build on what children know and can do. For example, toddlers prepare for forest adventures by first learning to navigate uneven surfaces and obstacles in the outdoor area.

There are ample opportunities to support physical development in the forest school areas. Children benefit from space to run, jump and balance. They enjoy den building with branches and sticks. Staff use these opportunities to introduce mathematical language. Typically, teaching is effective. However, there are occasions when the implementation of the curriculum is less effective. For example, sometimes, too much adult support and guidance is provided. This means there are times when children are not able to do things for themselves that they are capable of.

A strength of the curriculum is the focus on language and communication. From an early age, staff support children to communicate and extend their vocabulary. Progress in children's speech and communication is swift. Staff skilfully introduce new words and ensure children understand the meaning. Staff provide targeted learning opportunities for those children who need some additional support with their communication and language.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children achieve well and make steady, secure progress from their starting points. Their communication is effective because staff model rich language, introduce new words with care and spark conversations throughout the day. During group times, children listen with interest, share their ideas and join counting and number activities with growing confidence. They delight in noticing patterns on leaves, ordering numbers and comparing sizes as part of their play.

Disadvantaged children and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities make steady progress through targeted interventions. Leaders typically act early to remove barriers, and staff generally adapt routines and teaching so every child can take part. Individual play plans are followed, which is reflected in children's increasing confidence, engagement and willingness to try new things. Across the curriculum, children strengthen fine motor control, explore creative ideas and solve problems together. By the time children leave, they are confident, capable and ready for school.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Children behave well. Staff teach them to listen, communicate positively and understand the difference between right and wrong. They set clear rules and boundaries and help children to learn how to keep themselves safe. For instance, children know that they must hold hands with their friends or staff when walking in the reserve. When children become dysregulated, staff act quickly to support children's changing emotions. This typically helps children to focus their attention on positive interactions and the learning opportunities provided by staff.

Activities provided for babies are sometimes too advanced for their stage of development, especially in relation to creative arts. This means that babies are not always fully engaged, lose interest and wander off, missing opportunities to explore a variety of ways to make marks and be creative. Staff provide older children with a unique approach to their learning, encouraging children to investigate, question and make sense of the world around them as they explore the nature reserve and woodland areas.

Leaders ensure parents understand the importance of regular attendance for children's routines. Any absences are quickly checked and recorded so that children benefit from their daily routines, and any concerns regarding children's welfare are identified as quickly as possible.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Children develop a sense of belonging at this setting. They build close relationships with leaders and staff. Staff are kind and caring and provide a safe environment to support children's safety and welfare. Staff interact with children in a supportive manner and provide nurturing care. Staff work in partnership with parents to ensure babies' sleep routines and weaning practices are consistent between home and the nursery. They teach children how to keep themselves safe, especially when children are accessing the forest school areas. Children demonstrate they know the boundaries that they must stay in and know how to walk safely when outside of the nursery. This approach helps children feel safe and secure, which enables them to be ready to learn. Children practise their independence skills, such as putting on their coats and washing their hands before snack time. Well-established routines help children understand what is expected of them and enable them to manage these tasks confidently.

Throughout the nursery, staff and children have positive and settled relationships. Overall, key-person arrangements are in place. However, leaders do not ensure there is effective communication between parents and their child's key person when children are transitioning into the setting and moving between rooms. This sometimes results in important information about children's home life being missed. Staff consider children's emotional wellbeing closely when planning experiences. For example, they ensure that they are aware of children who may need additional support.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders understand their key strengths, such as understanding the needs of the children and families that attend and the unique experiences that the forest school provides. Leaders consider the developmental stages of children's learning and development before taking steps to transition children into their next room and their ability to keep themselves safe in the forest school areas. Leaders demonstrate close links with the local community and strive to provide all children with a secure start to their early education. The staff team is well established, and staff enjoy working at the setting and feel supported in their roles. There is a shared focus on providing children with plenty of opportunities to practise their skills and knowledge to support all children's developmental progress. Leaders have identified that they would like to develop the outdoor provision to provide more opportunities to learn about planting and growth.

Leaders maintain clear oversight of the setting. Staff take part in regular professional discussions with leaders, where they identify targets to develop their knowledge and skills. In addition, staff complete mandatory training and access a range of training courses that strengthen their understanding of children's learning and development. This helps staff to identify and support children's learning, especially for children who have barriers to their learning. For example, a number of staff have completed the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator training. This ensures that staff working with children have a greater understanding of their needs and how to implement these into their experiences within the nursery.