Little Acorns Day Nursery and Montessori School Hampton

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders are fully committed to identifying children's needs quickly and removing barriers to learning. Staff complete detailed assessments and develop comprehensive and targeted plans to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They use a variety of highly impactful strategies to reduce or remove barriers to learning, including sensory and communication-based interventions. Leaders and staff work closely with parents, carers and external professionals to continually review and refine the support offered. They make flexible adjustments to routines and transitions, such as delaying transitions between rooms, to ensure children with SEND develop the foundational skills needed for the next stage of learning.

Leaders and staff build close working relationships with parents and carers to ensure that disadvantaged children and those known to social care have their needs accurately identified. This enables staff to provide consistent support and enables children to make excellent progress with their development. Leaders strategically use additional funding to meet children's individual needs, for example providing resources and support that help children manage their emotions. Staff support many children who speak English as an additional language. They respect their home language and use a variety of communication strategies to teach them English. Leaders and staff celebrate the uniqueness of every child in their setting. They welcome families and children and encourage them to proudly share their backgrounds and experiences, enhancing learning for all.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders continually evaluate the quality of their curriculum and how effectively staff implement it. Their current focus is supporting staff to further strengthen their excellent teaching practice, in line with their bespoke teaching methods. Staff have a thorough understanding of child development and have high expectations for children's achievement. They consistently provide well-prepared and meaningful learning experiences based on their detailed knowledge of children's interests. For example, they extend children's fascination with planets and support them to recall the order of the solar system.

Staff prioritise children's communication development. They teach children, including babies and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, sign language to support their communication. Staff promote a love of reading and singing and skilfully extend children's vocabulary. They support children's social and emotional development thoughtfully, using highly effective group activities to help all children develop relationships with others and recognise and manage their emotions.

Staff focus on supporting children's physical development, and there is excellent progression throughout the setting. Toddlers manipulate play dough in a variety of ways, and pre-school children use mark-making materials superbly to draw and colour. Staff consistently use engaging and high-quality interactions to teach children. For example, they skilfully support pre-school children to compare the weights of different items and remember what ingredients are used to bake banana bread.

Achievement: Strong standard

All children make excellent progress with their language development. Babies and toddlers use sign language to participate when singing nursery rhymes. They learn new words rapidly, using these fluently in their daily interactions. Children make rapid progress with their physical development. Babies learn to use climbing equipment safely, and older children refine their balancing skills outdoors.

Children demonstrate superb recall of their learning, including different mathematical concepts. They make excellent progress with their early literacy skills as they recognise and remember the initial sounds of words and match items accordingly. Children develop deep concentration and persistence when tackling challenging tasks such as transferring water between containers using only a sponge. Children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, recognise different emotions and learn to collaborate. They are sociable, friendly and confident to express themselves. Children are extremely well prepared for the next stage of their learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders work closely with parents and carers to promote the importance of punctuality and attendance. They offer a flexible approach to give babies and children time to build secure relationships with staff. Staff get to know children and their families incredibly well and are extremely warm and responsive.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour that are consistently implemented from the outset. Staff sing songs with children about using manners and support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to understand the expectations of the setting in an appropriate way. Staff help children reflect on whether their behaviour is expected or unexpected and how their actions affect themselves and others.

Highly experienced staff provide well-timed, engaging group times that promote children's listening and attention skills. Staff are excellent role models and are positive and patient. They teach children the skills they need for future success. Children listen respectfully to staff and follow directions, enthusiastically following the routines of the setting and participating in routine activities such as tidying up. Children are very kind and helpful, collaborating when completing tasks together. They demonstrate a love for learning, enthusiastically participating in group activities and managing their behaviour when a fire engine visits the setting. Many children, including toddlers, are confident to sit in the cab of the fire engine for a photo.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Staff prioritise children's emotional wellbeing. Leaders and staff work closely with parents and carers, flexibly adjusting their procedures to ensure babies have plenty of time to settle and form secure attachments with staff. Transitions between rooms are exceptionally well managed. Staff provide 2 key transition times a year, which gives children, staff and parents time to build close relationships. Leaders ensure key persons move with their key children to the next room, which further strengthens relationships and helps children to immediately start learning and exploring.

Staff skilfully support all children to recognise and manage their emotions positively. They consistently promote healthy lifestyles, teaching children to make positive decisions. Staff teach independence skills consistently throughout the setting. Babies eagerly help tidy away, and toddlers pour their own drinks and scrape their plates after snack.

Staff offer a wide range of home-cooked nutritious food and ensure children's individual dietary needs are met. They manage children's personal care with dignity and sensitivity, teaching children the skills they need to manage this themselves. Babies explore how to keep themselves clean when washing their toy babies, and pre-school children learn how to manage their own oral health. Staff provide focused opportunities for all children to learn how to keep themselves safe, discussing fire safety and the role of emergency services.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders use their deep understanding of the local community and child development to create an inclusive and well-designed learning environment for babies and children. They are passionate about providing high-quality provision for their community and consistently evaluate and improve its effectiveness. Leaders are currently focusing on supporting staff to further strengthen their teaching practice. They are providing high-quality professional development opportunities and operating a 'buddy system' so that more experienced practitioners can share excellent practice. Leaders strategically involve staff in the ongoing development of the setting. They ensure that staff workload is manageable, and staff report feeling extremely well supported in the setting, both for their wellbeing and ongoing professional development.

Leaders work proactively with external professionals, parents and carers to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They help parents to access further support, which helps provide a consistent approach. Leaders ensure that disadvantaged children and those known to social care receive the support they need to thrive in the setting. Parents speak extremely highly about the setting. They deeply appreciate the support they have received for their children's development. They comment on how prepared their children are for school and how they are developing positive values, becoming responsible, kind and independent.