Park Hall Day Nursery

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders identify children's emerging and changing needs and take appropriate action to reduce barriers to their learning and wellbeing. Staff know children and families well, and use information from parents, observations and assessment to understand children's individual circumstances. When concerns emerge, leaders involve parents and seek advice from external professionals where needed.

The special educational needs coordinator develops their knowledge through relevant professional learning and remains alert to emerging needs. There are currently no enrolled children receiving special educational needs and/or disabilities support, but established systems enable staff to identify concerns and provide targeted support when required. Leaders use additional funding to provide resources that support communication, physical development and wider learning. Children known to children's social care receive appropriate support, and leaders understand the importance of sharing relevant information with other professionals.

Transitions are tailored to children. Parents and key persons share information so that children gradually become familiar with new rooms and adults. This supports continuity and reduces potential barriers associated with change. However, leaders do not yet evaluate the impact of inclusive practice with sufficient precision. For example, they can explain how additional funding is used, but are less clear about the specific difference this makes to individual children over time.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have a clear ambition for children to become confident communicators who are increasingly independent and able to manage their feelings, build relationships and develop secure foundations for literacy and mathematics. They have strengthened the curriculum since the previous inspection and improved systems that help staff understand what children know, can do and need to learn next.

The mathematics curriculum has been developed well. Mathematical learning is now more deliberately woven through children's everyday experiences. Children count as they build, match colours and shapes and solve simple problems through play. Staff increasingly recognise opportunities to introduce mathematical concepts and language.

Teaching is typically effective. Staff use children's interests and assessment information to plan experiences, model language and provide opportunities for children to practise what they are learning. Books, stories and songs support communication and language, while appropriately chosen resources develop children's physical skills and independence. However, the quality of interactions is less consistent. Staff sometimes rely on closed questions or move on without exploring children's ideas further. For example, children enthusiastically explore colours and faces during 'All About Me' activities, but staff do not build sufficiently on their discoveries through discussions about colour mixing or similarities and differences. As a result, teaching does not consistently extend children's language, thinking and understanding as deeply as it could.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children generally achieve well from their starting points and develop age- and stage-appropriate knowledge and skills across the areas of learning. They are confident learners who enjoy exploring, making choices and practising what they know. Children demonstrate developing communication, physical and mathematical skills. They confidently count objects using one number name for each item, identify simple shapes and match colours independently. They enjoy stories and imaginative play, and develop the small-muscle control they will need for later writing.

Children remember and apply what they have learned in different situations. They build on previous experiences and increasingly use their developing knowledge independently through play and familiar routines. Children generally make appropriate progress through the curriculum and are suitably prepared for their next stage of learning, but the depth of knowledge and skills they develop is not yet consistently evident across all areas of learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Children behave well and develop positive attitudes to learning. They confidently choose activities, sustain their attention and often become deeply involved in their play. Children play alongside and with others, cooperate appropriately and learn to treat each other with kindness and respect. Warm relationships with familiar adults support children's emotional security. Staff model expected behaviour, provide reassurance and use resources such as emotion cards, mirrors and quiet spaces to help children recognise and manage their feelings. Children who need help to regulate their emotions receive appropriate support.

Established routines help children know what to expect and become increasingly independent. Songs support transitions between activities, and children take part confidently in routines such as handwashing and preparing for meals. Parents understand the key-person arrangements and describe transitions as well managed. Leaders promote regular attendance and follow up on any unexpected absences promptly when staff are unaware of the reason for absence. These approaches are generally effective, and children typically settle well into routines and develop positive attitudes to learning.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Children benefit from a safe and nurturing environment where staff understand their care needs. Warm relationships with key persons help children form secure attachments, and staff generally respond sensitively when children need comfort or reassurance. Babies' sleep arrangements reflect their individual needs, and staff demonstrate a secure knowledge of safer sleep practices.

Children develop healthy habits through everyday routines. Staff promote handwashing, oral health, healthy eating and appropriate portion sizes. Food is freshly prepared and takes account of children's stages of development and weaning needs. Appropriate systems are in place to manage allergens, medication, accidents and children's personal care.

Children develop independence and confidence in managing aspects of their own care. Staff manage risks effectively while allowing children to explore and meet appropriate challenges. Leaders have strengthened risk assessment and monitoring since the previous inspection, and staff routinely consider hazards as part of daily practice. Expectations for children's individual care needs are generally implemented effectively. Occasionally, children's emotional cues are not responded to as effectively as they could be. These inconsistencies show that leaders' expectations for responsive, individualised care are not yet implemented consistently by all staff.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders understand the setting's strengths and areas for development, and have taken effective action since the previous inspection. Leaders have strengthened risk management, assessment and staff monitoring, and have developed a more structured curriculum. Leaders have made effective progress in addressing previous priorities relating to mathematics and staff's understanding of what children know and need to learn next.

Staff training is increasingly linked to identified areas of practice. Staff receive regular supervision alongside coaching and modelling. For example, when staff lack confidence in promoting mathematics with babies, leaders model how mathematical language, counting and songs can be incorporated into everyday experiences. Subsequently, staff are able to apply this to their teaching independently.

Leaders maintain appropriate oversight of recruitment and staff suitability, qualifications and training. Safeguarding concerns and complaints are recorded and followed up, and leaders make changes when concerns identify opportunities to improve practice. Parents speak positively about leadership and report noticeable improvements under the current management team. Staff feel supported through supervision, coaching and leaders' open-door approach.

Leaders are more effective at implementing and monitoring improvements than evaluating their impact over time. Their evaluation does not yet consistently identify precisely how improvement work has changed children's experiences, learning and wellbeing. This limits the precision with which leaders can identify what is working most effectively and what needs to improve further.