Ollie's Therapy Centre and Nursery

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders demonstrate a highly skilled and proactive approach to inclusion that goes beyond expected practice. Because of their qualified status in speech and language therapy and other expert staff in physiotherapy and occupational therapy, staff learn from them and specifically respond to each child's varying needs and abilities. Children receive small-group and individual tailored interventions. These are precisely planned with personalised targets that are sharply focused on helping them make sustained progress from their initial starting points. Staff gather and use comprehensive information from parents and carers from the outset. They use this alongside their accurate tracking of children's progress, to plan and adapt support. Staff continually review children's progress and consider adjusting any adaptations so children can participate fully in all aspects of nursery life.

Leaders take swift and rigorous action based on the barriers identified for each child who attends. Their specialist advice is directly on hand and benefits staff to enhance their knowledge and skills to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. All their professional guidance is embedded in everyday practice. Leaders also visit children in their other early years setting and in their homes with parents to model the strategies and share their expertise. This ensures children experience continuity and security to help them flourish.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders and staff use their assessments and observations to check that children are meeting their developmental targets. They highlight each child's strengths or gaps in their learning regularly. Leaders use this information to identify next steps in children's development and to plan a broad and sequenced curriculum. In general, the curriculum is implemented effectively to support children's positive progress over time. For example, staff use shared signs and gestures alongside key vocabulary to help support children's understanding. For example, when children use transport shaped sponges to dip in paint, staff comment they are 'squeezing' and 'squashing' the sponge. Leaders support staff to use visual aids to further help children who find it hard to communicate using spoken language.

Leaders observe spontaneous interactions by staff and give feedback to individual staff on their practice. This is an effective way to monitor, review and adapt teaching to suit each child's needs. Leaders recognise that children learn, grow and develop at their own pace. Staff are particularly keen on promoting children's independence. For example, children learn to use the toilet and wash their hands thoroughly afterwards. Staff introduce early mathematics, such as sorting and matching activities, as well as encouraging children to fill and empty containers with different materials. However, on occasions, some staff do not fully explore what children already know and can do. This means they do not specifically implement strategies to move each child to the next step. For example, some staff focus on asking children to name colours of things that they already know.

Achievement: Expected standard

All children with their differing individual needs make positive progress towards their identified targets. They begin to develop skills that prepare them for their eventual move to school. Parents report that their children often return home having learned something new, such as using different words or concentrating for slightly longer periods than they were previously able to manage.

Children make their own decisions about what they would like to do during their free play. They particularly enjoy spending time in the vast and well-equipped outdoor garden. Here, children develop their gross and fine motor skills as they pedal and manoeuvre tricycles, sometimes overtaking their friends as they ride around the track. Others use water spray bottles, squeezing the mechanism to release water, which helps to strengthen the small muscles in their hands. However, due to weaknesses in some staff's interactions, children do not consistently build precisely on their existing knowledge and skills. Consequently, at these times children's achievements do not show that their full potential is consistently met.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders work closely with families to promote children's attendance and punctuality. Some parents travel from further afield. They fully appreciate the importance of attending this specialised setting regularly. Staff are excellent role models, consistently reinforcing rules and boundaries in a positive way to help keep children safe. They work as a cohesive team to provide a calm and respectful environment, where kindness and compassion are actively encouraged. Leaders thoughtfully organise the day around each child's individual needs. They refine routines to support children's emotional wellbeing. For example, when children need time to regulate their emotions, they can bounce on a small trampoline. Children beam with delight as they jump and bounce in a controlled and coordinated way, reassured that staff are at hand to support them. They are much calmer than before and get involved in focused activities with purpose.

Established routines help children to understand what to expect next. Staff use visual aids and signs to support children's understanding of the daily structure, which is thoughtfully considered. Leaders and staff consistently reinforce the sequence of the day in manageable steps, which is proving highly successful. During morning circle time, children listen attentively as staff sing the 'hello' song and some eagerly join in with the actions. They take turns confidently to press a pre-recorded sound button that says 'hello' and then look for their name on the chalk board. This helps to show that with consistency in place, these children with different needs demonstrate they are eager and successful learners.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders create a fully inclusive learning environment where children's welfare and wellbeing are given the highest priority. Staff ensure that children play and learn in a safe, hygienic and well-organised indoor and outdoor environment. There is a higher ratio of experienced and qualified adults. This enables children to enjoy their time at the setting, while receiving close and responsive one-to-one support. Staff are quick to approach children in a gentle way to guide them and support their emotional development. For example, when children climb on indoor equipment, staff approach them sensitively and help them to begin to understand whether what they are doing is safe.

Staff find out about children's individual care routines from parents and carers when their children first start. They review these routines regularly and adapt them in partnership with parents. This ensures children's welfare is consistently addressed. As a result, personal care practices, such as those related to food and toileting, closely reflect what happens at home, making this familiar to children.

Through warm and affectionate bonds with key staff, children clearly show that they feel safe, secure and belong. Children also begin to understand the importance of following positive health and hygiene routines. For example, they know they must wash their hands before mealtimes. Highly specialist leaders and staff work closely with other settings that children attend, as well as with parents. This ensures that individual targets are shared and strategies are followed consistently. Leaders regularly and collectively review the systems in place for each child and provide ongoing support and advice.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

The highly skilled and knowledgeable leaders have a secure understanding of the setting's strengths and areas for development. They set clear priorities for future improvement. For instance, they go above and beyond to create their own training videos to enhance staff's knowledge of the setting's procedures and to share effective practice in delivering targeted interventions. Staff find that these videos, alongside regular supervision meetings, are extremely beneficial in refreshing and strengthening their knowledge and skills to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders' give staff's wellbeing a high priority and report they have a great work and life balance.

Ongoing reflection and evaluation help leaders to identify what is working well and what may need to change. As a result, they are extremely proactive in adapting the provision to continually meet children's education and care needs. Prior to the inspection, leaders already recognised the priority to improve some staff's practice and are implementing targeted support as a result. This has not yet had time to be fully embedded. They also work collaboratively with local schools to support children's smooth transitions. This includes sharing precise targets for each child to help narrow the specific gaps in their development. Leaders also model strategies and targeted interventions for parents at their home, as well as early years settings and schools to implement. Consequently, children's needs continue to be very well supported.

Driven by a firm commitment for continual improvement, leaders actively seek the views of parents and carers. They share their considerable expertise effectively, particularly with parents who may not fully understand their children's special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, parents feel extremely empowered and confidently use many of the suggested strategies at home to successfully support their children's development.