Paws Nursery School

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders and staff create a highly inclusive environment in which children feel happy and safe. They establish positive working relationships with parents and external agencies to ensure children with barriers to their learning receive highly effective and consistent support. This helps to give children the best possible start to their education. Leaders are mindful of families' different circumstances and use additional funding to support individual children's needs accordingly.

Leaders successfully support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and their families, to have the right support to prepare them for their transition to school. This makes a positive difference to children's outcomes. All staff know any additional arrangements that children need, to ensure they make progress. They support children with SEND patiently and with skill, consistently using systems to support communication and language, which ensures children stay regulated and able to engage and learn.

Staff are highly knowledgeable and continue to strengthen their understanding through ongoing training and professional development with a focus on the needs of the children. For example, the whole team has undertaken specific training, which has focused on neuroscience and healthy attachments.

Parents speak very highly of the support they receive and describe how staff go 'above and beyond' to help children with barriers to their learning fully participate in nursery life.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders have designed a curriculum that meets the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning. Staff carefully plan provision which enables high-quality teaching, resulting in children being highly engaged in their play and learning. Staff enable children to lead their own learning while adapting their teaching to meet the children's individual needs and stages of development effectively.

Staff use every interaction as a teaching opportunity. For example, during outdoor play, staff skilfully question children about a snail they have found, further developing their knowledge and understanding of the world and care for living things. Staff frequently introduce new words to extend children's vocabulary through meaningful conversations.

Staff gently support children to take part in increasingly risky activities and challenge themselves physically within the inviting outdoor environment. For example, children enthusiastically transport logs from one area to another. They work together, with adult support, to problem solve how to safely reach ropes to swing from tree branches. As a result, children learn about taking risks and develop their gross motor skills.

Staff use every opportunity to teach mathematics throughout the setting. For example, during water play staff encourage children to count the frogs on the lily pads, challenging children to add one more and say how many there are now.

Achievement: Strong standard

All children, including those with barriers to their learning, make strong progress across all areas of learning and development from their individual starting points. Children develop the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for the next stage in their learning, including the move to school, extremely well. They are confident communicators, curious learners and resilient problem solvers, who demonstrate high levels of engagement and perseverance in their play.

Children develop independence skills from an early age and take responsibility for tasks within daily routines. For example, younger children begin to help put their clothes on after a nappy change, while older children independently select water from the outside tap, manage risks safely and take pride in completing tasks for themselves. Children demonstrate high levels of self-confidence, self-care and motivation to learn.

Through rich experiences with books, familiar nursery rhymes and meaningful conversations, children confidently express their ideas, share their thoughts and use new words in their play and interactions.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders and staff are excellent role models for all the children, consistently demonstrating calm, respectful and positive interactions. For example, staff teach children the importance of asking for consent before tickling another child. As a result, children learn from an early age to advocate for themselves. Staff deploy themselves effectively to support children's play, which helps children to learn how to work collaboratively with others.

Staff skilfully adapt their approaches to meet children's individual needs. They know how each child reacts and use this knowledge to respond flexibly to support them, for example, by offering reassurance or adjusting activities. This helps children to regulate their behaviour and remain engaged in learning. As a result, children increasingly manage their own feelings and behaviour, and participate extremely positively in the routines of the setting.

Leaders and staff consistently use highly effective and inclusive approaches to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, particularly during daily routines. For example, children receive dedicated support from their key person, who guides them using embedded strategies, such as visual prompts.

Leaders understand the importance of children attending their sessions and work closely with parents to promote regular attendance, swiftly following up on any absences.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Children thrive in their emotional wellbeing because they benefit from trusting relationships with kind, nurturing and empathetic adults. Staff are highly attentive to each child's individual needs, including children with special educational needs and/or barriers to learning, and can speak knowledgeably and confidently about all children's development and interests.

Children develop positive hygiene practices and follow daily routines confidently. They independently wash their hands before meals and after using the toilet, showing a secure understanding of good hygiene. Staff consistently explain the importance of these routines. Leaders and staff place significant emphasis on promoting children's health and wellbeing. They implement highly effective risk assessments and robust procedures for eating and supervision, ensuring children's safety and wellbeing remain a priority throughout the day. Staff consistently support children to develop age- and stage-appropriate knowledge that they need to stay safe. For example, children are taught the importance of keeping well hydrated on a hot day. Staff engage children in meaningful conversations about healthy food choices at mealtimes and work closely with families to encourage healthy packed lunches.

Children are extremely well supported to develop an understanding of their physical abilities in the outdoor space. For instance, they take supervised risks when using climbing equipment and learn to manage their own safety.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders and staff build highly positive relationships with families, who speak extremely positively about the setting and the clear communication and support they receive from leaders. They describe it as warm and welcoming and value the regular updates they receive. This helps them to feel fully informed and involved in their children's learning. Leaders work closely with families and external professionals to ensure children, who may face barriers to learning, receive appropriate support and reasonable adjustments. Decisions are always taken in the best interests of children.

Leaders have a clear understanding of the setting's context, the local community and the individual backgrounds of families. They know the children in their care extremely well and use this knowledge highly effectively to identify strengths and areas for improvement. For example, they recognise that there is always more to improve and demonstrate a proactive approach to refining practice. Recently, leaders acted on feedback and advice from the local authority early years team to strengthen the teaching of mathematics. As a result, children benefit from a setting that continues to evolve to improve their experiences over time.

Leaders actively support staff's wellbeing and workload. Staff speak very highly of the leadership team and their hands on and caring approach. They report feeling valued and supported through regular supervisions. Staff talk about how they benefit from a range of professional development opportunities, as well as regular team training sessions and staff meetings. Recent training on communication and language strategies has strengthened staff's confidence in supporting children's communication, such as using visual aids.