Little Teapots Nursery Ltd

Inclusion: Strong standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those with barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing are supported effectively. Gaps in these children's learning close swiftly. Leaders make adaptations to help all children participate in learning and in daily routine activities. For instance, they have recently implemented a visual timetable to support children who become overwhelmed during transition times. All children benefit from the 5-minute reminder before they hear the tidy-up song, and they are emotionally prepared for what is next. Leaders are aware of potential barriers to children's learning and carefully prepare the environment to build on their awareness of culture, difference and diversity. This helps to broaden children's experiences and knowledge of the wider world and promotes respect, acceptance and inclusion from an early age.

Leaders gather detailed information from families about children's individual learning and care needs. They quickly identify gaps in children's learning and work very closely with other professionals to support children. For example, they make referrals to physiotherapists and speech and language therapists. This helps children to receive the support they need. Other professionals provide positive feedback for the nursery and comment on how much progress children have made due to the swift referrals and support from nursery leaders and staff. Parents are particularly pleased with how well leaders and staff work in partnership with them and how staff meet their children's individual needs.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders and staff provide children with a sequenced, balanced curriculum. They have high expectations for all children and are aware of their individual needs and preferences. For example, children who prefer to learn outdoors can access the full curriculum here. Staff carefully prepare the environment indoors and outdoors to enable children to develop skills across every area of their learning, regardless of where they choose to be. For example, staff ignite children's interest and ask if they think the 'fairies' might have been. Children show delight as they see glitter on the pavements and search the areas for fairy pictures. They develop new skills as staff model how to use scissors safely, helping children to snip the string to make their fairy houses. Children benefit from making choices about their learning and independently build on their existing skills. Staff offer praise, which helps children to keep trying. However, staff do not consistently challenge or extend children's play. For example, older children show high levels of engagement and interest in painting indoors and outdoors, but staff do not consistently show them how to hold their brush to fully develop their control and grip.

Staff focus on supporting children to develop their communication and language skills. Young children take part in small-group time activities before lunch and thoroughly enjoying singing and dancing. They copy staff who model the words and actions. Older children develop a love of stories. They listen intently and join in with repeated parts of the story, demonstrating high levels of engagement. Staff read with enthusiasm, and children giggle as they enjoy the different voices staff use to represent the characters.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children make progress across every area of their development and are prepared for the next stages in their learning, including starting school. Children who have barriers to their learning, and those with inclusion needs, benefit from specific strategies and support. This helps to close gaps in their learning, and they make particularly positive progress in relation to their starting points.

Overall, children show excitement and enthusiasm to learn. For example, they develop physical skills as they climb, balance and run outdoors. Babies learn to walk steadily and begin to develop their language skills as they join in with singing and dancing activities. Older children demonstrate an understanding of mathematics as they match shapes and count out loud during play. They develop a love of books from an early age and listen intently for the whole story. On occasion, children's play is not extended to further develop their existing skills and maximise their achievement.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders ensure that staff gather frequent, detailed information about children's changing circumstances and home lives. This helps them to understand and implement changes to existing routines, which promotes continuity for children. Overall, staff establish regular daily routines for children and, because their attendance is high, they quickly become familiar with them. For example, children line up and know they need to wash hands before they eat. Older children use the 'crocodile line' to go on trips out of the setting. However, other parts of the routine are less well embedded, such as snack time and tidy-up time. Leaders acknowledge that some children need more guidance from staff to help them to consistently understand the expectations.

Staff are good role models for children and teach them to be kind and respectful. For example, staff gently remind children how to use words to ask for a turn, as opposed to taking the resources they want. Children benefit from praise and reassurance from staff. This helps them to build their confidence and self-esteem. Staff support and promote children's positive behaviour. Children are polite, helpful and caring towards each other. Older children show kindness towards younger children and pass them toys during play. They show consideration for their safety on physical play equipment outdoors and carefully move around them to avoid knocking them over.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders and staff consistently promote children's safety, welfare and wellbeing. Children show increasing awareness of how to keep themselves safe. For example, children count out the group members before they go to the field and then tell staff they do this to stay safe. Children sing the nursery song with staff as they walk together. This is a recent change, which staff implemented to maintain children's attention and safety.

Children have close relationships with all staff, including leaders. They show they feel safe and secure and settle in very quickly. For instance, babies who are new to the setting are confident to explore and benefit as staff know how to meet their individual care needs. Staff gather detailed information from families. Parents say they feel staff genuinely know their children's passions, interests and personalities.

Staff consistently promote children's good health, and the curriculum for their physical development is an overall strength. Children thoroughly enjoy being outdoors and benefit from access to the shared school field where they can run, dig and search for bugs. Staff talk to them about the vegetables they grow there, and this helps to develop their understanding of the world and how they can be self-sufficient. Children all come together to enjoy their mealtimes where they benefit from healthy, nutritious food. They are supervised consistently by staff, which promotes their safety.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders are committed and dedicated to providing children with the best start in life. Every decision is made with children's and family's best interests at the centre. Leaders and staff establish and maintain excellent partnerships with parents and families. For instance, they provide daily updates, progress reports and detailed information to help parents feel involved in children's learning and their experiences. Parents are particularly pleased with how leaders and staff work hard to communicate with them, especially those families who spoke English as an additional language.

Leaders and staff engage with others in the community. They work closely with other professionals involved with children, including those who support with inclusion needs, teachers and other settings children attend. These strong partnerships ensure that children receive timely and well-informed support that meets their individual needs. Leaders gather feedback to help them continually improve how children are prepared for the next stages in their learning. For example, once children start school, leaders ask teachers if there are any areas to develop for the next cohort.

Leaders are very committed to promoting staff's wellbeing. They regularly provide staff with one-to-one meetings, group meetings and in the moment feedback. Leaders and staff are very reflective on their practice and the effectiveness of the provision for children and families. They make changes that improve outcomes for children and continually evaluate the impact. For example, staff have completed training to help them support children's behaviour. This has helped them to implement strategies to teach to children how to regulate their emotions and increase their listening skills, particularly on trips out of the setting. Staff turnover is very low, and they say they feel valued here. They describe the team as 'inspiring and incredible'.