Mini Moos At Churchfields Day Nursery Operated By Blooming Imaginations LTD

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders and staff demonstrate a positive approach to inclusion and work closely with families to help children feel welcomed, valued and supported. Staff know children and their families well and gather information on induction about children's backgrounds, interests, routines and development. Settling-in arrangements are adapted where needed to help children feel safe and secure. Staff identify children who may need additional support and work closely with parents to understand and respond to their individual needs.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive targeted support to help them access the curriculum and take part in nursery life alongside their friends. Staff work with parents and other professionals to seek advice, share information and implement appropriate support. Any additional funding the nursery receives is used to provide targeted support for individual children. Leaders recognise when children or families may need additional help and work with other agencies where appropriate.

Children are supported to overcome barriers to learning and wellbeing. However, children's next steps are often too broad and not sufficiently precise. As a result, teaching and support are not always sharply focused on the small steps children need to learn next. This means some children do not always receive the most targeted support to help them make the best possible progress.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders provide a broad curriculum that supports children's learning and development across the areas of learning. Children enjoy a range of indoor and outdoor experiences, including sensory play, role play, creative activities, stories, visits to the farm and opportunities to explore the natural world. Staff plan activities around children's interests and provide experiences that children enjoy and engage with.

Staff use stories, songs and conversations to support children's communication and language. They introduce mathematical language during play and encourage children to explore, investigate and make independent choices. Staff build warm relationships with children and generally support their engagement and participation in activities. However, staff do not consistently demonstrate a clear understanding of what children are intended to learn. As a result, activities are sometimes overly complicated and not sufficiently matched to children's age and stage of development. Although children are engaged and enjoy the experiences provided, teaching is not always focused sharply enough on what children need to learn next. Staff do not consistently adapt their teaching to build on children's existing knowledge and skills. Consequently, opportunities to extend children's learning and deepen their understanding are sometimes missed. Leaders have begun to strengthen professional development to support staff knowledge and skills. However, these improvements are at an early stage and have not yet resulted in consistently effective teaching across the nursery.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children make steady progress from their starting points. However, variations in the quality of teaching mean that children do not always make as much progress as they could from their starting points.

Children develop communication skills through stories, songs and conversations during play and daily routines. They use language to express their needs, share ideas and interact with others. Children enjoy exploring books, joining in with familiar songs and taking part in imaginative play.

Children develop mathematical understanding as they count, explore numbers and use language, such as 'big' and 'small'. They develop early writing skills through drawing, painting and making marks for a purpose. Children develop physical skills through outdoor play, sensory experiences, farm visits and opportunities to explore the environment. They build confidence as they climb, balance, run and investigate different materials and textures.

Children are curious and motivated learners who enjoy exploring and extending their own play ideas. They develop increasing independence throughout the day. Children persevere as they try to put their outdoor footwear on. They feed themselves and help manage daily routines. Overall, children develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed for the next stage in their learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Staff provide a caring environment where children build warm relationships with familiar adults. Children are happy, settled and emotionally secure. Staff support children sensitively during routines and transitions, helping them feel safe and develop a sense of belonging. Attendance is monitored appropriately, and staff follow up children's absence to help ensure children remain safe and benefit from the experiences on offer.

Children generally behave well and respond positively to staff. They are eager to play, engage well in activities and demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning. Children enjoy exploring resources, follow their interests and learn alongside their friends. They are developing independence as they put on their boots for outdoor play. Some children help tidy away resources and manage aspects of their self-care.

Staff support children to share, take turns and develop positive relationships with others. Children are kind to one another and generally understand what is expected of them. However, routines and expectations are not always applied consistently by all staff. As a result, children do not always receive enough support to develop independence and take responsibility for their own belongings and actions. This means opportunities to further promote children's understanding of hygiene routines and personal responsibility are sometimes missed.

Overall, children are confident and motivated learners who enjoy their time at the nursery and play positively alongside their friends.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Staff provide a caring and nurturing environment where children feel safe, secure and well cared for. Staff know children well and respond sensitively to their individual care and emotional needs. Children build warm relationships with staff and confidently seek reassurance and support from familiar adults when needed.

Children's emotional wellbeing is supported through familiar routines and positive interactions. Settling-in arrangements are adapted to meet children's individual needs, and staff work closely with parents to help children feel secure. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive appropriate support, and staff work with parents and other professionals where needed to help reduce barriers to learning and wellbeing.

Children enjoy healthy meals and snacks provided by the nursery. They have opportunities to be physically active indoors and outdoors. Babies and young children benefit from effective sleep arrangements. Staff provide comfortable spaces for children to rest. They follow safer sleeping guidance and regularly monitor sleeping children to ensure they are safe and well. However, staff do not consistently use mealtimes and daily routines to reinforce good hygiene practice or help children understand the importance of healthy eating.

Overall, children's welfare and wellbeing are supported appropriately, and children demonstrate that they feel safe, secure and valued within the nursery.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders are dedicated to their roles and are committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for children and their families. They are committed to building a positive and retained staff team. Leaders want the best for the children and families who attend the nursery. They are reflective and regularly look for ways to improve the service they provide. Following a recent expansion of the nursery, leaders have experienced staffing challenges and recruitment difficulties and, as a result, staff sometimes work across different rooms to help maintain appropriate staffing arrangements. Although this helps staff get to know children across the nursery and supports children's transitions between rooms, it results in practice that is not always consistent.

Leaders have appropriate systems in place to oversee the nursery and work closely with parents and other professionals to support children who face barriers to learning and wellbeing. Parents speak positively about the nursery and describe leaders as approachable, visible and supportive.

Leaders place importance on staff wellbeing. Staff speak positively about leaders and feel well supported in their roles. Regular supervision meetings, appraisals and staff meetings take place. Leaders provide staff with access to online and in-house training opportunities. Leaders are approachable and provide support to staff when needed.

Leaders recognise some areas of practice they would like to strengthen further and have begun to take steps to address these. For example, they have recently introduced a revised curriculum to support staff's understanding of children's learning and development. However, these developments are at an early stage, and leaders do not yet monitor the quality of teaching sharply enough to ensure practice is consistently effective across the nursery. As a result, improvements to teaching are not yet fully embedded, and some opportunities to promote children's learning and wellbeing are missed.