Kenwood Nature Nursery

Inclusion: Expected standard

Staff complete assessments of children's learning. This begins when children start at the nursery. This helps staff to promptly identify any children who may need additional help such as children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or face other barriers to their learning. For children who require extra support, staff work with parents and the special educational needs coordinator to create individual learning plans. They monitor the progress that these children make towards them regularly and adjust targets to reach the next levels in children's progress. They know how to seek further help from other professionals, such as medical specialists and speech and language therapists, if needed.

They work closely with parents to access support and to share information for children with SEND. Staff receive some support from leaders as they discuss any concerns they may have about a child's development and to plan next steps for their learning. Parents are very positive about how staff engage with them to help their children achieve.

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

Leaders have designed a curriculum that generally follows children's curiosity and interests. However, they are not sufficiently focused on the skills and knowledge that children need to be taught directly. This includes teaching children mathematical skills and asking questions, to deepen their thinking and extend their learning. For example, children spend much of the day in the woodland and grassy areas of local parks and other grounds they can walk to. Staff have created adult-led activity packs on themes, such as, 'People who help us', to use outdoors. However, they are not sufficiently focused on skills and knowledge that children need to be directly taught, such as aspects of mathematical learning, and, therefore, do not support opportunities for practice and deepening learning. As a result, children are not always as engaged by the activities as they could be to ensure the very best rates of progress.

Staff are enthusiastic and very committed to the ethos of the forest school experience the setting promotes. They make some use of assessments and information sharing with parents to understand what children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities need to learn next. Staff generally interact well with children and promote communication skills effectively. However, they do not always make full use of questioning strategies to help children reflect on and extend their learning.

Achievement: Needs attention

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, do not consistently benefit from well-planned, sequential learning opportunities, particularly in mathematics. As a result, they do not always make the best possible progress in readiness for their next stages in learning, including school.

Babies and children achieve in their personal and social skills overall. Staff encourage children to make decisions about the songs and stories they would like to hear. They encourage children to make choices about their learning and to become increasingly independent. Children enjoy creating their own games, such as developing a role-play pirate ship and building an anchor with wood and string.

Children build their fine and large physical skills well. Young children enjoy handling small pieces of wood and observing them drift down the stream and completing jigsaws. They order wood by size and identify larger and small stones. Children enjoy using spray bottles of paints on a large fabric sheet hanging between tree so create patterns and begin to learn about colour mixing.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are courteous, friendly and behave well throughout the nursery. Leaders establish clear routines and expectations for staff to listen to a support children's emotional and personal needs during their time indoors and out. Staff are consistent in their positive attitudes and caring approach to all children. This is reflected in the very positive views of the parents for the care and support staff provide.

Leaders and staff are warm and encouraging role models. For example, they join with children as they tidy away and purposefully praise them for their teamwork and care. As a result, children are proud of their efforts and eager to work and play together. Staff build nurturing bonds with babies and young children that help them to feel safe and confident in their surroundings. For example, staff work closely with parents to understand daily sleeping and eating routines to support babies to feel relaxed, refreshed and eager to learn.

Leaders set clear expectations for children's attendance and punctuality from the start of their relationship with the families. As a result, children attend regularly and parents know procedures for reporting and managing absences.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Leaders and staff have a clear focus on promoting children's welfare and wellbeing needs overall. This starts from establishing positive relationships with parents to understand their children's personal needs well. This includes any additional support needed for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, children settle effectively into the daily routines and care of the staff. They enjoy learning both in small groups with children of the same age and opportunities to play harmoniously with mixed-age groups.

Leaders and staff work together to ensure children are safe indoors and out. They are vigilant when children travel and play in the open spaces and woodlands. They involve the children in considering their own safety and encourage them to follow instructions and consider each other's needs.

Staff follow nationally agreed safe-sleeping routines to ensure babies and young children get the rest they need in a caring and secure environment. They support children's personal hygiene and toilet training ensuring children have the privacy and protection they need during nappy changes both indoors and out. Children are supported and encouraged to recognise their own needs. For example, they wash their hands thoroughly and regularly after activities and before eating. Children have full access to drinking water at all times.

Staff help children to recognise and manage their own emotions. Staff make positive use of well-considered books, songs and games to enrich children's emotional understanding. They encourage children to share their thoughts and feelings as they play and this contributes to their confidence and readiness for further learning.

The nursery provides healthy meals and snacks. They support children to use cutlery and to learn to drink from open cups. They ensure children are safe during mealtimes. However, they do not take all opportunities to further involve children in developing an appreciation of healthy eating, for instance, through discussions and opportunities to prepare their own snacks.

Leadership and governance: Needs attention

Leaders and staff are enthusiastic and committed to the forest school ethos the nursery promotes. However, leaders' oversight of the nursery is not consistently rigorous and firmly based on first-hand monitoring of the curriculum, teaching and learning to ensure the highest standards of provision are achieved. There have been recent steps taken to sharpen monitoring and supervision procedures, but these are at too early stage to have a maximum impact. Staff feel well supported in their roles and comment positively on their wellbeing.

Staff are well-qualified for their roles overall and there are positive procedures for recruitment and induction into the nursery. Leaders ensure all staff have training in paediatric first aid and safeguarding. However, further opportunities for staff training are not fully based on analysis of the curriculum and learning the nursery provides.

Leaders take positive steps to help children who have special educational needs or/ disabilities or have other possible barriers to their learning. Leaders work well with parents and carers to share ideas on what will help children to continue to develop their skills outside of the setting at home. Parents are very positively committed to the nursery's ethos and warmly appreciate the relationship and communication with staff.