Pegasus Nursery & Preschool

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders foster a culture of inclusion where children and families are understood well, and individual circumstances are considered carefully. They identify children's needs early and work closely with parents to support them. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and children in receipt of additional funding, such as the early years pupil premium.

Additional funding is used purposefully to reduce barriers to learning and wellbeing. For example, leaders support families to access sessions in the holidays and invite a sports coach in to deliver sessions to support children's next steps. Leaders regularly review children's progress and the impact the support is having.

Leaders take effective action to reduce barriers that children and families may face. For example, they make adjustments to routines to support children with their transition into the setting. They work closely with a range of professionals, including local authority advisers, and use their advice to support children with a range of strategies and routines. This helps children access the curriculum and ensures support remains relevant as children's needs change. Leaders ensure every staff member has a sound understanding of all the children's needs. This means all staff can support children with SEND effectively.

Leaders demonstrate genuine commitment to supporting children and their families. They take careful account of each child's unique experiences and circumstances, adapting practice so that every child can participate fully. Parents speak highly of the support and communication they receive. As a result, children, including those who face disadvantage and those with SEND, are fully included and make progress from their starting points.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have a clear oversight of the curriculum delivered at the setting. Overall, the curriculum is typically taught well. Staff support children to become very independent. For example, children bring in their plate and cups after having snack outdoors.

Mathematical development is woven throughout the curriculum. For example, children count how many people are here that day and they use number rhymes and count on their fingers to work out how many 'little ducks' are left.

Leaders and staff support children's physical development well. For example, children are encouraged to use scissors to cut out snakes and build with different-sized blocks. All children access a session with a sports coach who visits each week to deliver a session on physical fitness.

Children's communication and language is generally supported well. Some staff use open-ended questions, such as how children can make toy cars travel faster down the ramp, to encourage children's thinking. However, this approach is not consistent across the team. At times, staff offer only 2 possible answers, reducing opportunities for children to develop their ideas and extend their learning.

Staff have a clear understanding of children's abilities and their next steps. However, these are not planned for consistently, such as providing small-group times for less confident children. When group times are too long or too large, children begin to lose focus, reducing the effectiveness of teaching.

Achievement: Expected standard

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, typically make good progress from their starting points across the curriculum. Children's independence is supported through encouragement from staff. For example, children wash and dry their hands and bring in their plates after snack.

Thoughtful transitions are in place to support children to be prepared for their next stage of learning. For example, spending time with their new class teacher and showing children the school uniform of the school they are moving to, help to prepare children for transition to school.

Generally, children grow in confidence. For instance, during group time, children choose a song. They stand up with friends in front of the group, singing and performing the correct actions to the song. For children who need support with their confidence, large-group times do not help them achieve this, and they become quiet and disengaged.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders have high expectations of children's behaviour. Children behave very well and require little direction from staff. Throughout the day, children are reminded of the setting's 'five golden rules', which reinforces positive behaviour. The children follow familiar routines confidently throughout the session, such as tidy-up time. These key routines are understood by all children and help to promote children's independence.

Children build positive friendships in the setting. They choose friends to stand up and sing with them during group time. Staff encourage children to share and take turns. They use sand timers to support turn-taking with equipment in the garden. Staff remind children to put their hand up if they would like to share something at group time and to listen when others are speaking. Staff build warm, respectful relationships with children. They talk to children about the importance of being kind to each other and explain how unkindness makes them feel.

Children are curious and enthusiastic about learning. They notice changes when they mix paints together to make new colours, and they problem-solve how to make toy cars go faster on the ramps. Children show resilience when using scissors and are proud when they complete the activity. They hold up their cut-out snake saying, 'Look at this.'

Leaders maintain effective oversight of children's attendance. They work closely with families to ensure attendance is consistent and have implemented adjustments to support regular attendance.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders provide a warm and welcoming space where children enjoy play and learning. Children eagerly come into the setting in the morning and access the activities provided for them, which are planned around their interests. Children have regular access to outdoor learning, where they enjoy opportunities to be active and explore with their friends. For example, they use drainpipes as ramps to race toy cars and find ways to make their cars go faster.

Leaders and staff prioritise all children's welfare and safety consistently. Children understand how to keep themselves safe. They talk about tidying up so they do not hurt their feet and cleaning their hands to get rid of the germs. Parents say that children learn about road safety when going into the community.

The setting offers a range of healthy and nutritious snacks and meals for children. For those children who bring a packed lunch, leaders share healthy lunch box ideas and provide newsletters to families about the importance of balanced healthy eating. Mealtimes are warm and social experiences, with staff sitting alongside children and encouraging conversations. Staff teach children about the importance of brushing their teeth, and this is followed up with families to promote good oral hygiene.

Leaders are highly responsive to the varying needs of the children and families attending. They make adjustments to practice to ensure all children can participate. They offer tailored settling-in sessions, where they gather detailed information from parents and carers. As a result, new children settle extremely well, and staff understand their individual needs right from the start.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Recent changes in leadership have already led to positive developments in the setting. Leaders have a clear grasp of the strengths of the provision and the areas that require further improvement. They are committed to making changes and continually reflect, review and adapt their practice to meet the needs of the current cohort. Leaders have made changes to the room to create a calmer, less overwhelming space for the children who attend. These changes have been recognised and praised by parents and carers.

Leaders have a good understanding of their local community and the context of the setting. Leaders act in the best interests of all children. They have a clear oversight of those children who are disadvantaged or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and ensure that they are supported to access the setting.

Leaders place a high priority on staff wellbeing, striving to be approachable and ensure workloads remain manageable. Staff report feeling well supported and value the opportunities for professional growth provided through supervision and ongoing professional development. Leaders respond promptly to staff interests by arranging relevant training, such as courses focused on supporting children with SEND. Leaders recognise the need to strengthen staff practice in extending children's learning across the setting. They do not yet use training and coaching consistently or precisely enough to develop this aspect of teaching.

Leaders have suitable recruitment procedures in place and notify Ofsted when there are changes to trustees. They have updated their procedures to ensure Ofsted is provided with the required information to enable suitability checks to be completed.