Little Conkers Limited

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders create a very inclusive culture where they identify and assess children's individual needs promptly and skilfully. They use a robust graduated approach, drawing on high-quality information from observations, families and external professionals. This ensures that support is targeted from the earliest point. Leaders are extremely passionate about inclusion and take thoughtful and strategic action to reduce barriers to children's learning and wellbeing. They use a dedicated special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) hub, ensuring that children with SEND can access the curriculum meaningfully. As a result, children participate fully in nursery life and make sustained progress.

Leaders closely monitor children's progress, reviewing support regularly and adapting provision where impact requires strengthening. Clear systems for evaluating children's individual plans and interventions help to ensure that children continue to move forward. Leaders make sure that staff are highly trained to support children who have barriers to their learning. They also work extremely closely with other professionals. As a result, children receive coordinated and sustained support.

Leaders use additional funding effectively to enhance targeted support and enrich learning for disadvantaged children. As a result, children develop confidence, independence and a strong sense of belonging. Children benefit from opportunities that enable them to thrive and achieve their potential.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have a clear and accurate understanding of the quality of the curriculum and teaching. They make informed decisions to refine practice and ensure that the curriculum offered is wide-ranging. Staff plan activities skilfully and adapt to children's interests, next steps and starting points in development.

Staff prioritise children's language development. They build children's vocabulary purposefully throughout play, using songs, rhymes and music sessions to extend their listening and expressive skills. Staff embed mathematical concepts meaningfully across the curriculum. For example, staff encourage children to complete 12 actions during movement activities, supporting counting, numerical understanding and physical coordination.

Children's physical, personal, social and emotional development is central to the curriculum design. Daily outdoor play and sensitive interactions help children to develop confidence and regulate their emotions. Leaders ensure that reasonable adjustments, such as making adaptations to the environment and targeted adult support, enable children's full participation.

Staff use assessment skilfully to check what children know and can do, tailoring their teaching to their developmental stages. As a result, children experience consistently high-quality interactions that build knowledge securely and develop positive attitudes to learning.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children make progress across the curriculum, particularly in their communication and language. They use expressive vocabulary to describe their play and share experiences with confidence. Children benefit from purposeful questioning, responsive interactions, signing, modelling and personalised interventions. Children, including those who face barriers to learning, benefit from warm and sensitive support that helps them manage emotions and remain involved in learning.

Children develop early mathematical understanding through practical play and movement activities that build their knowledge of shapes, colours and number language. Over time, older children gain some independence skills. For example, they confidently tidy their plates and cutlery after meals, demonstrating responsibility and self-help skills. However, children do not have consistent opportunities to embed self-help and life skills within everyday learning. Overall, children show confident communication, emerging numeracy and growing readiness for their future learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Children show positive attitudes to learning and take part confidently in both adult-led and child-initiated activities. Leaders create a welcoming and supportive environment with clear expectations for children's behaviour. Staff reinforce these through gentle guidance. They build warm and trusting relationships with children and respond to each child's age and stage of development. As a result, all children, including children with special educational and/disabilities and those who are disadvantaged, feel safe, included and valued.

Children show kindness and consideration towards others. They cooperate in their play, and learn to share and take turns. Leaders understand families' working patterns, and staff know children who attend flexibly well, ensuring they stay safe. Staff monitor children's attendance and punctuality closely. However, staff do not consistently embed structured routines to enhance children's engagement and sense of security further throughout the day.

Staff celebrate children's achievements, which strengthens relationships with parents and carers and builds children's confidence. For example, when children create meaningful drawings linked to familiar adults or the setting, staff positively acknowledge and share this with families, helping children to feel proud of their efforts and confident in their achievements.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Staff meet children's individual needs effectively through attentive and responsive care practices. For example, when children show signs of uncertainty, staff offer reassurance and sensitive choices about whether to remain in a new environment or return to a familiar space, helping children to feel safe, valued and in control. Secure key-person relationships support children to form strong attachments, seek comfort, share news from home and engage confidently with staff.

Staff encourage children to talk about how they are feeling and help them to recognise, express and manage their emotions. This promotes children's emotional wellbeing from an early age. For example, during self-registration, staff ask children how they are feeling and acknowledge their responses, supporting emotional awareness.

Children develop an age-appropriate understanding of their physical health. They learn hygiene routines suited to their stage of development, and staff work closely with parents and carers to promote healthy eating, including offering guidance on balanced packed lunches. As a result, children feel secure, cared for and confident. However, leaders have not enhanced opportunities for children to develop their independence by embedding essential self-help and life skills from the earliest age.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders demonstrate a clear vision and strong understanding of the setting's strengths and areas for development. They reflect effectively to feedback, making decisions that prioritise the needs of all children. Leaders maintain robust oversight of safeguarding, recruitment and staff suitability. They ensure that all staff are trained, aware of procedures and receive support in their roles.

Leaders are evaluating changes needed to strengthen routines following recent room redeployments and are identifying where staff require additional support. They actively manage staff's wellbeing, providing supervision sessions and professional development opportunities. This ensures that staff feel valued, supported and confident to deliver high-quality care and learning.

Strong partnerships with families enhance children's experiences. Leaders use an online learning journal to communicate effectively, offer guidance on healthy eating and provide financial support to enable parents and carers to work or extend hours. They closely monitor children's individual needs through reviews and risk assessments. As a result, the setting is well led, with secure governance, reflective practice and a culture of continuous improvement that positively impacts children, families and staff. Leaders' actions ensure that the learning and welfare of all children remain the central focus.