Holbourn House Day Nursery LTD

Inclusion: Exceptional

The setting has a highly responsive and individualised approach to identifying, assessing and meeting children's developmental and wellbeing needs. Staff expertly identify barriers early and skilfully adapt teaching, routines and environments accordingly. For example, children who start with limited speech are offered personalised strategies, such as signs and symbols, sign language and visual prompts, to support their communication.

All staff hold high expectations for every child, regardless of their starting point or circumstances. Leaders rigorously monitor children's progress and the impact of interventions. They adapt support where it is not having the desired effect. This ensures additional support makes a significant difference to children's experiences, participation and progress. Personalised daily interventions are carefully planned and embedded into children's routines, enabling them to make sustained progress without limiting their access to the wider curriculum.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from highly effective leadership and an experienced staffing team, which works closely with families and other staff. They seek advice from professionals including teachers of the deaf, inclusion teams and health professionals. When external support is delayed, leaders and staff take initiative to develop individual plans to support children in the meantime. Staff undertake extensive training, research new strategies and keep up to date with new research that is implemented into teaching. This sees all children have access to rich experiences and opportunities regardless of their barriers to learning. Consequently, children rapidly flourish across all areas of development.

The setting recognises barriers faced by disadvantaged children and those known, or previously known, to children's social care. Staff provide consistent relationships and emotional support that promote security and belonging. Additional funding is carefully planned for, with leaders and staff responding to emerging needs and interests as they arise. This sees support targeted at the right time and in the most appropriate way, ensuring that each child benefits from resources, experiences or interventions that are relevant to their individual progress.

Leaders and staff recognise how family context can influence children's wellbeing and readiness to learn. Leaders work highly effectively with families to ensure support extends beyond the nursery setting and reflects each child's wider circumstances. Leaders use their expert knowledge thoughtfully to signpost families to relevant services and local support groups. Leaders also share effective practice through annual local conferences, contributing to improved inclusion across the wider community.

Curriculum and teaching: Exceptional

Leaders have designed a highly individualised curriculum that supports each child to build upon their independence, autonomy, resilience and kindness based on their individual developmental stage. They have thoughtfully created a mixed-age environment where children can share their interests across all ages and learn from each other. All staff have ambitious expectations for every child regardless of any barriers they may face. Staff use precise knowledge of children's starting points, alongside expert guidance and research, to deliver consistently high-quality and adaptive teaching. As a result, children regularly demonstrate knowledge, language and skills beyond those typically expected for their developmental stage.

Staff skilfully use everyday experiences to deepen learning and extend children's curiosity. When children notice dragonflies and berries on the walk to forest school, staff respond promptly by introducing new vocabulary and questions to encourage children to think more deeply. In this way, staff turn spontaneous moments into valuable learning opportunities that extend children's knowledge, language and understanding of the natural world.

Staff support children to build, remember and apply knowledge highly effectively over time. They challenge younger children to strengthen newly acquired walking skills as they balance across wooden beams. Older children are guided to assess and manage risk on rock climbing equipment. Children develop fine motor skills progressively from mark making in sand to using spray bottles and safely chopping snack with knives. Staff expertly adapt their support so that children practise, refine and transfer these skills across meaningful contexts. As a result, children demonstrate significant sustained progress in their physical development, confidence and self-regulation.

Staff sequence mathematical learning and introduce language purposefully through meaningful play. Staff use strategic questioning and well-timed comments to stretch children's thinking beyond age-related expectations. For example, they support one-year-olds to use words such as 'more' and 'full' in water play. Two-year-olds compare weights and explain whether buckets of sand are 'heavy' or 'light'. Staff deepen this knowledge further by encouraging three-year-olds to recognise and discuss 'capacity' as they explore when a water jug is full. As a result, children develop a strong grasp of mathematical vocabulary and apply their knowledge confidently across practical experiences.

Achievement: Exceptional

Children make significant progress from their individual starting points, with many achieving skills beyond those typically expected for their age. From a very young age, babies show remarkably high levels of independence and control in their physical skills. They use spoons with skill and dexterity to feed themselves and confidently drink from an open cup. Those who are newly walking climb steps to use slides and navigate across uneven surfaces independently.

Babies and young children demonstrate a remarkable ability to use new vocabulary with confidence and engage in mature conversations. Children with barriers to learning equally achieve incredibly well. For example, nonverbal children have developed from no spoken language to confidently using two- to three-word sentences within short periods. Children who previously required one-to-one support to participate fully now confidently communicate, interact with others and recall previous learning. Their positive attitudes prepare them exceptionally well for the next stage of learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders have created a whole-setting culture of consistently positive attitudes to learning with children, families and staff. Children are curious, willing to have a go and increasingly able to sustain their engagement. Babies and young toddlers remain engrossed in experiences for periods significantly longer than typically expected for their age. During singing and parachute sessions, babies participate with evident joy and laughter, using babble, gestures and vocalisations to indicate that they want the experience to continue.

Staff encourage children to celebrate each other's successes through high fives, encouragement and positive comments. Toddlers retrieve toy fairy figures for friends, while older children congratulate peers when they find their name on the self-registration board.

Leaders and staff have developed the mixed-age environment, which offers consistent opportunities to develop empathy, patience and consideration. Older children naturally adapt their communication when playing with younger children. They ask questions, model language and help them remain involved. Younger children learn to participate in shared play by observing and responding to these positive interactions.

Leaders actively monitor children's attendance. Where patterns of absence emerge, leaders work closely with families through check-ins, home visits, adapted session times and targeted support. This has resulted in improved attendance and greater continuity in children's learning and relationships.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Exceptional

Leaders consistently prioritise the welfare and wellbeing of children and their families. Leaders ensure staff receive extensive training tailored to the needs of their key children. This gives staff the comprehensive knowledge and skills needed to respond sensitively and effectively to children's individual needs and abilities.

Leaders use the knowledge they gain from research to review and improve their settling-in and key-person arrangements. For example, children remain with the same key person throughout their time at the setting. This enables adults to develop an exceptionally detailed understanding of each child and family. This has a positive impact on children's sense of security, relationships and emotional wellbeing as they build lasting and meaningful bonds.

Children demonstrate a strong awareness of healthy habits and personal safety. At mealtimes, they confidently talk about healthy foods in their lunch. Outside, children gather their own sun hats without prompting. Toddlers recognise when their bodies need rest, explaining that they will be sleeping after a busy morning. Staff support children to understand how to keep themselves and others safe. During walks to forest school, children confidently hold the safety rope and hold hands. These everyday experiences enable children to develop a strong sense of responsibility for their own and others' wellbeing.

Leaders ensure safe sleep arrangements are appropriate to children's ages and remain prepared for updated guidance.

Leadership and governance: Exceptional

Leaders are impressively dedicated to ensuring all children, particularly those with additional needs or barriers to learning, achieve above and beyond what is typically expected. They are highly effective in their goal of reducing barriers so that all children flourish and thrive.

Leaders have established an effective culture of continuous improvement where practice is regularly questioned, researched and refined. Leaders' highly strategic decisions are grounded in the lived experiences of children, families and staff. Leaders continually pursue their own professional learning activities and act as positive role models for their staff. Leaders carefully consider staff wellbeing and recognise that staff need to feel valued, supported and emotionally secure to provide consistently high-quality care and teaching.

Leaders demonstrate detailed and perceptive analysis of the setting's strengths and areas for development. Staff are also active participants in improving the setting. Regular staff meetings give opportunities for all staff to reflect on what could be more consistent and refined to further strengthen the impact and outcomes for every child. Staff welcome feedback from colleagues and reflect with leaders in regular supervisions using video footage of their practice and written peer observations. This provides meaningful opportunities to reflect and consider how staff can continue having a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences for children.

Leaders engage thoughtfully with families and the wider community to strengthen practice and ensure children are remarkably well prepared for transitions. They provide home learning packs and coaching sessions to individual families, including on behaviour, speech or school readiness. Leaders are incredibly knowledgeable and actively participate in research, practice hubs and professional networks, while sharing their own effective practice through annual conferences. This creates a culture where improvement extends beyond the setting as leaders contribute to developing practice across the wider early years community.