Milland Valley Nursery School Ltd

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders and staff are passionate about providing an inclusive setting for all children. They work closely with parents and carers to get to know children well. Staff quickly identify children's interests and what support they can put in place to help them reach their full potential. For instance, staff share strategies with parents to support children's self-regulation and their communication and language skills, to reduce frustrations. This successfully supports children to receive a consistent approach to periods of transition, and to engage positively with their peers.

Leaders acknowledge that further work and enhancements to professional development are needed to help extend some children's communication skills. Additional funding is used thoughtfully, based on the needs of children and how leaders and staff can best support children. For instance, resources are purchased to support sensory play, which ignites children's curiosity, attention and focus. Leaders and staff work well with other professionals to promote a shared approach to meeting children's needs. Ongoing assessments are used to check children's progress, evaluate the effectiveness of strategies and adapt plans for children, based on their needs. Staff understand the importance of timely referrals to ensure that support is in place to help with children's transition to school.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders create a broad curriculum that supports children to make typical progress. Staff use regular assessments to identify what children need to learn next. They use this knowledge to plan purposeful learning experiences that support and promote children's physical, personal, social and emotional development. Staff focus on building children's mathematical skills well. They teach children how to count in order, to work out and check their estimations. However, sometimes staff do not consider how they can adapt their teaching practice, so that they can respond effectively in the moment, to extend children's learning beyond what they already know.

Children, including those in receipt of additional funding, receive experiences that are tailored to their needs. Typically, staff model language during conversations with children. They introduce new language and help children use and pronounce words correctly. Staff help older children learn the meaning of new words, such as cocoon, and illustrate this well to help children link new words with ideas. This helps to broaden children's vocabulary skills. Where children need extra help with their speaking skills, staff adapt their teaching to help them communicate, such as through visual supports. However, leaders recognise there is more that can be done to extend children's communication skills, to help them fully share their wants, needs and wishes.

Achievement: Expected standard

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make typical progress from their starting points. Children enjoy learning. This enthusiasm helps to prepare them for the next stage of learning, including school. Children develop confidence in mathematics as they play. For example, they estimate how many apples the caterpillar has eaten. They count out the number of apples to ensure they have the correct amount. Children measure water as they fill jugs and recognise that these get heavier as they add more liquid. Children develop an early love of literacy, learning about how authors write books and illustrators draw pictures within the stories. Children sustain concentration in activities that interest them, such as following the narrative of stories.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders and staff help parents and carers to understand the benefits of timely and regular attendance. This helps children to benefit from opportunities to meet and play with peers and develop the social skills they need. This has a positive impact on all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning.

Leaders and staff focus on helping children develop skills that underpin positive behaviour, kindness and respect. Children recognise and value the differences between themselves and their friends. Staff are positive role models, teaching children the importance of caring for each other. Children build secure friendships across differing age groups. They play together, recognising the importance of fairness with toys and resources, so that everyone has a turn. Staff understand the differing ages and stages of development of children. They adapt their approach to ensure that where children need extra help in responding to each other, they receive this in sensitive ways.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Leaders and staff get to know children well and use tailored care practices, according to children's needs. Their key-person approach supports relationships with families so that staff get to know children well. This helps children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning, settle into new routines. Children develop a sense of belonging as staff recognise the importance of this. Staff ensure children are welcomed, valued and respected. Children learn to understand how they feel and ways to express themselves positively, Staff use strategies to minimise frustrations that help children in key routines. For instance, staff recognise when children need extra time to move to mealtimes and use visual supports to help children with these changes of routines successfully.

Children develop secure routines and habits that promote their physical health and overall wellbeing very successfully. Staff embed positive hygiene practices, such as teaching older children the importance of washing their hands before meals. Staff promote children's understanding of personal safety and healthy lifestyles through active play and nutritious foods. Staff work with families to support children in understanding how fruits and vegetables grow and helping children taste new foods. For instance, staff encourage children to try fruits at snack time and talk about textures and tastes. This helps children build confidence in making healthy choices and broadens their understanding of how to look after their bodies.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders and staff work well together. They share the same vision for ensuring all children, including those who are disadvantaged, have special educational needs and/or disabilities, are known or previously known to children's social care, or who may face barriers to learning and wellbeing, benefit from the best possible experiences. Staff say that they enjoy working at the nursery. Leaders are mindful of staff wellbeing, workload and promote open communication, where staff feel valued in their roles. Staff benefit from training, supervision and support. Overall, staff are qualified and experienced in their roles. They understand how children learn and continue to reflect on their own knowledge through team discussions and some training. However, there is more scope for leaders to target the professional development of staff to help them to reflect on their practice, identify areas for development and enhance teaching to enable children to achieve at even higher levels.

Leaders reflect on the care they provide. They understand what they want children to learn and how they can help support this through the curriculum they provide. Leaders have focused on improving mathematics in the provision, which impacts positively on how children are able to use mathematics in activities, purposefully. However, leaders recognise that a more perceptive evaluation of their strengths and areas of development would help to focus improvement that drives excellence.