Lilys @ Lostock

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders have established a clear vision that fosters an inclusive culture in which children are valued and supported to achieve well. Children's needs are identified promptly, and targeted support is implemented quickly to remove barriers to learning and development. Teaching is adapted effectively to meet individual needs, enabling children to make good progress from their starting points.

Leaders demonstrate a strong commitment to supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. Robust partnership working with parents and external professionals ensures that children's next steps are clearly identified and achievable. Effective adaptations, including visual resources in children's home languages and staff learning key words and phrases, promote communication, understanding and inclusion. As a result, children and families feel welcomed, valued and fully included.

Staff know children exceptionally well and confidently adapt their practice to meet individual needs. The progress check at age 2, together with effective partnership working with parents, carers and health visitors, helps identify emerging concerns and secure timely intervention. Effective multi-agency working ensures that support is coordinated and regularly reviewed, enabling children to receive the right help at the earliest opportunity. Staff receive ongoing training in the graduated approach, ensuring that effective strategies and adaptations meet children's emerging and identified needs. Consequently, children make sustained progress and are well prepared for future learning.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders and staff have established an ambitious, coherently sequenced curriculum. This reflects expert knowledge of child development and meets the needs of children across all age groups. High expectations are consistently embedded, with teaching building systematically on what children already know and can do. The curriculum successfully promotes curiosity, investigation and critical thinking. For example, children confidently discuss how fruit and vegetables grow, explain how to care for the environment and proudly monitor the produce growing in the garden, demonstrating how learning is revisited and applied through meaningful experiences.

A significant strength is the unwavering focus on communication and language. Staff knowledgeably use books, shared reading, rich conversations and skilful questioning to introduce and revisit ambitious vocabulary, thereby extending children's thinking and securing language development throughout the day.

Teaching is consistently adapted to ensure that every child accesses the curriculum and makes sustained progress from their individual starting points. Children confidently recall prior learning from a farm visit and the book 'Handa's Surprise'. They demonstrate secure knowledge, strong vocabulary development and the successful transfer of learning into new experiences.

Leaders maintain a sharp focus on school readiness through carefully sequenced learning that continually builds children's knowledge, skills and independence. They continue to extend opportunities for children to apply their literacy and mathematical and communication skills across increasingly complex experiences. An ambitious curriculum consistently enables every child to achieve exceptionally well and be fully prepared for the next stage of learning.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children make secure progress from their starting points and demonstrate confidence across all areas of the curriculum. They engage enthusiastically in purposeful learning experiences and increasingly challenge themselves through independent exploration, including within the setting's dedicated 'hot spots'. Children show curiosity, resilience and sustained concentration as they select resources and extend their own learning.

Children develop strong communication and language skills from an early age. They confidently engage in conversations, recall previous learning and make predictions. They increasingly use a wide vocabulary during play and daily routines. They express their ideas with growing confidence, listen attentively to others and communicate effectively with adults and their peers.

Children's interests drive their learning, and they actively engage in experiences that support their physical, early literacy and mathematical development. Babies confidently explore their environment and develop their physical skills through meaningful play experiences. Older children apply mathematical language naturally as they count, solve problems and recognise patterns during everyday routines and play, demonstrating increasing confidence in their mathematical understanding.

Children experience smooth transitions between rooms and into school because they are well prepared socially, emotionally and developmentally. They develop the confidence, independence and skills needed for the next stage of their learning, supported by strong partnerships among the setting, families, schools and other professionals.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Children settle quickly into the setting, feel safe and secure, and demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning. They form warm, trusting relationships with adults and their peers, enabling them to confidently initiate and sustain play, collaborate with others and engage fully in learning. Children understand the setting's expectations for behaviour, respond positively to routines and boundaries, and show kindness, resilience and respect towards others.

Children benefit from well-established daily routines that help them develop confidence and independence. They confidently select resources, prepare for mealtimes and tidy away after activities. For example, babies independently return books to the book area after they have finished looking at them. Children respond positively to praise and encouragement, taking pride in their achievements and demonstrating increasing confidence in their abilities. Leaders maintain effective systems to monitor attendance. Emerging patterns are identified promptly, and effective partnership working with families helps to ensure that children attend regularly and benefit from consistent routines and learning experiences.

Generally, children develop independence through daily routines and are encouraged to make choices and manage tasks for themselves. However, younger children, particularly babies and toddlers, are not consistently provided with opportunities to complete simple self-care tasks, such as pouring their own drinks when appropriate. As a result, opportunities to further develop their confidence, independence and readiness for the next stage of learning are sometimes missed.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Staff provide effective care that meets children's individual needs and promotes their health, safety and emotional wellbeing. Secure, responsive relationships enable children to feel safe, valued and confident in the setting. Staff work closely with parents. This supports children's emotional wellbeing and development, providing appropriate guidance on safer sleep, breastfeeding, feeding and weaning, while ensuring that routines are tailored to individual needs.

Staff respond calmly and sensitively to children's emotions, supporting them in understanding expectations, regulating their feelings and developing positive relationships with others. For example, staff reinforce turn-taking and sharing while maintaining children's engagement in activities. Children's understanding of healthy lifestyles is promoted successfully through meaningful discussions about sun safety and hydration, with staff extending learning through purposeful vocabulary. As a result, children develop confidence, emotional security and the personal skills needed to support their future health, wellbeing and continued development.

Staff promote children's independence effectively through everyday routines. Older babies are encouraged to feed themselves, developing fine motor skills, coordination and self-help skills, while staff provide sensitive encouragement that builds resilience and confidence. Children confidently manage tasks such as locating and putting on their own shoes, demonstrating growing independence and pride in their achievements.

Leaders ensure that well-planned transitions between rooms promote continuity of care and minimise disruption for children.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders demonstrate a clear and ambitious vision for the setting, placing children's learning, development and wellbeing at the centre of decision-making. They have a precise understanding of the setting's strengths and priorities, continuously improving the outdoor environment to provide richer, more meaningful learning experiences for children. Leaders maintain a strong focus on school readiness, ensuring that the curriculum progressively develops children's knowledge, skills and independence.

Leaders invest effectively in staff development, providing regular professional development that reflects the needs of the children attending. For example, training on engaging boys in literacy was introduced to enhance these skills. This demonstrates leaders' commitment to improving teaching and learning. Leaders ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing other barriers receive timely, coordinated support through effective partnership working.

Leaders demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement and proactively introduce initiatives, such as a speech and language programme, to strengthen early intervention and enhance support for children and families. Leaders continue to strengthen their evaluative practice by consistently reviewing the impact of improvement initiatives and professional development. This enables them to demonstrate how these developments enhance teaching, enrich children's learning experiences and secure even better outcomes for all children.

Staff report feeling valued and well supported through regular supervision, ongoing training and an open culture where their views are heard and acted upon.