Kiddie Capers, Fishersgate

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders and staff accurately identify children who may require further support to meet their individual needs. Leaders work very effectively with external professionals to support these children. Leaders work with social workers and other professionals to support children and families known to social services, including attending meetings and having input into plans. Leaders and staff meticulously monitor the progress of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This supports them to plan appropriately for children's ongoing learning in a carefully sequenced way.

Leaders go out of their way to support families, from all parts of the community, to be able to attend. This includes altering attendance patterns and times and having high regard for children's wellbeing and that of their families. Leaders have a secure understanding of the needs of the community, for example, recognising that some children lack outdoor play spaces at home. Consequently, they have designed intentional, homely learning environments that encourage exploration, featuring a large, well-planned outdoor area.

Leaders work well with parents to gain their trust and to reduce barriers to learning. Staff ensure that they get to know each child and their needs quickly and effectively regardless of how long they have been at the setting or how regularly they attend. Leaders work with other local organisations to support families and share resources and information.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

The curriculum is well thought through to reflect each child's learning needs, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and other barriers to learning. Staff's interactions with children are typically effective. They get to know children well and use their knowledge to create activities and resources to support the curriculum. Leaders are aware of some slight inconsistencies with the quality of teaching and are actively implementing targeted support for staff where needed. For example, leaders are focused on supporting all staff in delivering consistent, high-quality interactions that fully extend children's learning during play. Staff use precise ongoing assessment to identify children's starting points and generally tailor teaching to their individual developmental stages.

Staff typically support communication and language skills well. They use interactions well to promote children's language, including vocabulary specific to the activity taking place. Children who may need additional help receive personalised, direct support to communicate, including being able to express their needs confidently. Children's physical development and personal, social and emotional development are introduced early and prioritised for the younger children, and this continues to be taught at an age-appropriate level for all ages. Overall, teaching is adapted so that all children enjoy their learning experiences. Leaders have effective arrangements, for instance to promote regular attendance, to support children who face barriers to their learning.

Achievement: Expected standard

Overall, children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and other barriers to learning, make steady progress across the curriculum. All children progress particularly well with their communication and language. They develop secure, age-appropriate verbal skills to express their needs confidently. For example, children with SEND gain the skills and confidence to communicate and build trusting relationships.

Typically, children are prepared to move on to the next stage of their education. They become motivated learners and develop skills to support their independence. Children enjoy spending time with their friends, taking part in role-play activities or making use of the outdoor facilities. For example, over time, children persevere to master the skills of operating and steering scooters, taking great pride in this achievement. Children develop mathematical skills through experiences such as using money in the pretend grocery shop. They confidently use number and positional language in their everyday play. For example, they ask for the item 'behind', and count out a specific number of banknotes.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Children learn in a wonderfully warm, friendly environment. Space and resources are organised well to provide inviting areas to support different types of play and learning. Children confidently navigate between each activity area with ease, knowing where to find the items that they are looking for. Staff support children to collaborate, take turns and get along with others. Children are supported to interact with others who have shared interests. For example, activities are set up to encourage peer interaction and role play, such as the well-resourced grocery shop with real food cartons and a till area.

Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning, showing focus and engagement when exploring the outdoor area or immersing themselves in creative tasks, such as drawing. Staff very successfully promote children's positive behaviour and attitudes to play. Leaders have provided targeted behaviour training, such as local authority inclusion mentoring, to help staff teach children practical self-regulation techniques. Daily routines are securely embedded. All children understand and follow these well, providing them a sense of security and confidence.

Leaders place a focus on working with parents and carers to promote children's attendance. They recognise the importance of encouraging children to benefit from the full breadth of the curriculum. Staff follow up with parents when children do not attend or do not arrive on time for their scheduled sessions. They work with parents to reduce and remove any barriers to attendance. For example, leaders offer flexibility regarding days, hours and regularity of attendance when appropriate. As a result, attendance has improved and is generally regular and consistent.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders and staff establish extremely secure partnerships with families. They ensure every child's individual background and changing situation is understood. They successfully support families to navigate significant life transitions. This includes moving home, shifting schedules or changes in family structures. Leaders prioritise all children's welfare and wellbeing consistently. They recognise children's individual care needs and meet these extremely well. Leaders and staff are also highly committed to meeting children's emotional needs and put this at the centre of day-to-day practice.

To embed long-lasting healthy habits, staff follow the setting's healthy eating and food policies. They collaborate with parents and carers to ensure children have nutritious lunches. Staff use daily mealtime routines to support families and teach children what healthy eating means in practice. Highly positive relationships are built between staff and children. Children are very comfortable with all staff and approach their trusted key worker for support and reassurance. Staff deployment arrangements are very effective.

Leaders have effective arrangements to ensure that they remain up to date with current guidance and legislation. They are skilled at adapting polices and working practices to reflect any changes. They take care to ensure that any new practices reflect the needs of all children and their families and are fully understood by staff.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders have a clear and ambitious understanding of what they want children to learn and are highly effective at supporting the community. For example, there is an effective commitment to promoting children's attendance. Leaders consistently take decisive action to remove barriers to attendance, offering flexible scheduling to help families maintain regular routines. Decisions are made consistently in the best interests of vulnerable groups. Leaders use targeted assessments and funding to support the education of disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children known or previously known to social care.

Highly effective self-evaluation supports leaders to identify strengths and areas where improvement may be needed. They are swift to take action to address these findings and make improvements. For example, leaders have identified where there are slight gaps in staff's knowledge and practice and are working to address these. This targeted support aims to raise practice to a consistently high level. Leaders precisely match high-quality professional learning to staff's individual needs. During quiet periods, such as holidays, leaders strategically allocate staff to training or deploy them to sister sites to broaden their expertise. Leaders are highly responsive to staff's changing circumstances. To maintain high standards, they thoughtfully support staff's wellbeing and manage their workloads effectively. Leaders have embedded a culture of high expectations and professionalism across the team through clear workplace guidelines, guidance, training and supervision. Regular supervision is securely structured, ensuring staff feel fully supported and find clear benefit from the feedback they receive. Consequently, staff make a consistently positive contribution to the provision. For example, they suggest new learning resources and plan targeted activities that support children's progress.