Little Foxes Forest School Westbury

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders consistently identify children's individual needs early and work closely with families and other professionals to understand how best to support them. Staff use this information to make thoughtful adaptations to everyday routines and experiences, including the use of visual cards, sensory resources and dedicated one-to-one support where needed. As a result, children are empowered to express their needs effectively, manage transitions with confidence and engage fully across all areas of learning.

Leaders promote diversity exceptionally well throughout the setting. Children learn about different families and cultures and the community around them through books and conversations, helping them to understand and value differences between themselves and others.

Leaders and staff maximise the impact of additional funding, ensuring children benefit from enriched experiences that support their learning and development. For example, they have used grant funding to provide a dedicated shelter where children can retreat from the busy environment, regulate their emotions and return when they are ready. This is particularly effective for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, who learn to recognise when they need a quieter space and use strategies that help them feel calm and ready to re-engage. As a result, children who may face barriers to participation are fully included and make sustained progress from their individual starting points.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have designed a curriculum that reflects the needs and interests of children attending. Staff understand what they want children to learn and typically build on this through meaningful experiences in the environment. For example, planned learning about fauna and flora helps children to develop their knowledge of the natural world, while experiences around fire support them to understand safety and how fires are created and extinguished safely. Staff usually make use of these experiences to support wider learning. For example, children develop their mathematical understanding as they measure out the wingspan of an eagle and compare this with their own size.

Staff know children well and typically use conversations and questions to build on their ideas and introduce new language. Leaders recognise some staff are less confident in identifying how to extend children's learning further. Plans are in place to develop staff's confidence in this area so that children consistently receive opportunities to deepen their learning.

Achievement: Strong standard

Children consistently achieve well and make excellent progress from their individual starting points. They remember what they have already learned and confidently use this knowledge during their play. Children develop a secure understanding of the natural world and talk knowledgeably about plants, including those that may be poisonous. They also confidently explain how to stay safe around fire, the different fuels needed to start one and how it can be extinguished safely. Children build on their knowledge through their play and use their ideas in different ways. They develop confidence, communication and independence through the rich experiences available to them. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make particularly significant progress. For example, a child who was previously unable to be near the fire circle now confidently demonstrates how to move safely around the outside edge.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Children enjoy their time at the setting and engage well in their play and learning. They form secure, trusting relationships with staff and are confident to seek their support and reassurance when needed. Children know the rules of the setting well and respond to familiar songs that embed these and support transitions throughout the day. For example, when staff play the 'tidy up song', children actively take responsibility for their environment by helping to pack away and care for resources.

Children are respectful and supportive of one another and speak to each other kindly. When interactions become more challenging, staff skilfully encourage children to think about how they might communicate differently, for example by asking, 'Could we find another way to ask that?' This helps children to manage their relationships positively and consider the feelings of others. Children readily accept one another in their play and interactions.

Leaders maintain a robust oversight of children's attendance through regular monitoring and reviews. When children are unexpectedly absent, staff follow clear procedures to establish their whereabouts and welfare, escalating concerns when contact cannot be made. Leaders have used these procedures effectively, including requesting a welfare check when necessary. This ensures that unexplained absence is taken seriously and potential concerns about children's safety are acted on.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Children's welfare and wellbeing are generally supported effectively. Staff generally know children well and respond sensitively to their individual care and emotional needs. Children form warm, trusting relationships with staff and typically seek them out for reassurance when needed. Staff supervise children closely while giving them appropriate freedom to explore, take manageable risks and develop their independence. Children learn how to keep themselves safe. For example, staff provide children with appropriate guidance and support as they gather around the fire circle. Children are learning to be more independent about making healthy choices and decisions, such as managing their own self-care needs. Staff consistently support children when they forget to follow some routines, such as washing their hands. This helps children develop their skills and foster healthy habits.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders have high expectations for the quality of care and learning that children receive. They have a clear and detailed overview of the setting and ensure that staff are suitably qualified and continue to be suitable for their roles. Safeguarding arrangements are monitored closely, and leaders have good oversight of any concerns. Staff's engagement with parents is excellent. Parents report that staff know their children exceptionally well, which serves to reduce barriers to their learning.

Regular supervision meetings are used effectively to identify individual training needs and areas for development. Leaders provide targeted training alongside whole-team professional development, and staff are encouraged to share their learning with one another. This creates a supportive culture where staff feel valued and are confident to develop their practice. Leaders also demonstrate a positive commitment to staff wellbeing, contributing to a positive and committed team whose members work well together. This helps to provide children with consistent, high-quality care and learning. Leaders know the setting well and remain focused on strengthening practice and improving children's experiences.