Partou Stepping Stones Day Nursery & Pre-School

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders and staff follow established assessment and monitoring procedures to quickly identify any emerging gaps in children's learning. This ensures that appropriate support is provided at the earliest opportunity, particularly for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing other barriers to learning. Leaders target the use of funding well to meet the individual needs of the children it is intended for. For instance, they have accessed equipment to reduce the level of noise in the environment, creating a calmer and more supportive space for children. They have also accessed some resources that positively represent abilities among children. This helps to ensure that children can see themselves reflected in the environment and supports them to feel recognised, included and valued.

Some staff are confident in supporting children who are developing their language and communication skills to communicate their needs and to understand what is coming next. However, this practice is not consistent, which means that some children struggle to understand what is expected of them. Although leaders recognise this, they have not yet developed clear strategies to support children who need additional help to follow routines, manage transitions and engage in their learning.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have a clear and ambitious vision for what they want children to know and learn throughout their time in nursery. They have focused on developing opportunities that support children's progress across all areas of learning, prioritising children feeling safe and secure and developing positive relationships. Staff plan activities that actively engage children and provide appropriate levels of challenge, helping them to build the skills they need for the next stage in their learning. Overall, support for children is carefully tailored to each child's age and stage of development. However, some staff need more confidence with extending children's learning.

Some staff skilfully extend children's learning through their engagement. For instance, while children are playing outside, staff weave mathematical learning into play. They encourage children to find and order numbers that are around different areas of the garden. Children show high levels of engagement as they recognise familiar numerals and work together to sort and sequence them. Leaders are also prioritising children's communication and language development. They have recently introduced an initiative to strengthen early communication for babies, with plans to extend this approach across the whole nursery. Throughout the nursery, children enjoy listening to stories and joining in with action songs. These routines help to build children's vocabulary. Although leaders provide some resources that reflect children's individuality, there is scope to develop this further by embedding equality and diversity more fully within the curriculum to celebrate the wide range of backgrounds, abilities and experiences in the nursery community.

Achievement: Expected standard

All children gain the skills and knowledge they need to prepare them for the next stage of their learning, including starting school. Through the curriculum, they access a wide range of opportunities and learning experiences across all 7 areas of learning. Children throughout the nursery develop confidence in their physical skills. Older children enjoy taking on the challenge of the obstacle course in the garden, where they practise balancing and jumping with increasing control. Younger children also show enthusiasm for being active as they practise climbing and explore the water tray, developing coordination as they pour and transfer water. Children learn to be independent at meeting their own needs. The youngest children help to rub their sun cream in as they prepare to go outside to play. Older children set their place at the table for lunch and serve their own meals.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and attitudes to learning. Through a well-sequenced curriculum, consistent routines and overall purposeful interactions, children learn to manage their feelings and behaviour effectively. Children learn to be kind and considerate towards others and demonstrate positive attitudes that support their engagement and readiness to learn. When children struggle to share and take turns with resources most staff act as positive role models. They calmly intervene and talk to children about how they are feeling. This helps children to share their frustrations and manage their conflicts.

Staff help children to learn about caring for their environment and resources. For instance, as older children finish playing in the garden, they eagerly tidy up and make it ready for the younger children to use. Leaders have worked closely with staff to develop and implement daily routines that help children to feel secure and confident in the nursery environment. This supports children to understand what to expect throughout the day, enabling them to settle quickly and engage in their learning. Leaders recognise the importance of children being able to access the sessions available to them. They work with families to try and offer sessions that may be more suitable to maximise children's attendance.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, benefit from the warm and trusting relationships they form with staff and their key person. Staff are sensitive to children's individual needs. They model respectful, nurturing interactions. For example, when applying sun cream to babies, staff take time to explain what they are doing and why, reassuring them and encouraging their involvement to help them feel at ease.

Leaders implement the key-person system effectively across the nursery. Staff know children well and work closely with parents to follow established routines, supporting children to feel safe, secure and ready to engage in their learning.

Staff supervise children well as they play. They use these opportunities to reinforce messages about personal safety. For example, as children practise balancing and jumping from the obstacle course in the garden, staff remind others to step back to ensure that the space around them is safe. Staff encourage children to follow routines around personal hygiene to help them develop independence and understand how to keep themselves healthy. They implement routines, supporting children to wash their hands, wipe their noses and manage their self-care with confidence.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

There have been some recent changes to the leadership and staffing team. Leaders from within the organisation have been providing effective support for staff through these changes. Leaders have accurately identified the strengths and areas for improvement in the nursery. They have started to meet with staff to reflect on practice and to provide support. This is having a positive impact on staff wellbeing. Staff say that they are happy in their roles and are well supported by leaders. They have access to online training to develop their knowledge and skills further, and leaders encourage this to be completed in work hours to ensure that staff are not working in their own time. Leaders monitor practice and have identified that some staff are less confident in supporting children's learning than others. However, they have not yet provided the focused support and coaching needed to ensure that all interactions are consistently high quality and promote children's learning effectively.

Leaders and staff work well with families and other professionals to meet the needs of children who face barriers to their learning, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Parents compliment the support that their children receive as they face challenges to learning.