Play Place Wayside Nursery

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders foster a highly inclusive culture, where every child is welcomed, valued and feels a genuine sense of belonging. They ensure that children's needs are prioritised by making timely referrals and using baseline assessments, ongoing observations and regular discussions with families. This helps leaders to gain a thorough understanding of each child's development and home context. This means support for children with emerging needs is precise, carefully planned and implemented without delay.

Staff tailor their practice to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They use visual routines and Makaton signing to help children to understand and communicate effectively. Staff collaborate very closely with other professionals, applying shared guidance and targets consistently across daily activities. They adapt sensory and practical experiences to children's interests and abilities. This ensures that every child can engage fully and access learning meaningfully.

Leaders use additional funding strategically. For instance, they provide resources to support children to regulate their emotions and enable all children to participate in trips and wider experiences. Children's progress is monitored closely through observations and reviews, and support is adjusted promptly where needed. Targeted training, including on supporting children's wellbeing and using Makaton, strengthens staff's confidence and consistency of practice.

Leaders work effectively with families and external agencies to support children, including those known to children's social care. Staff provide nurturing and consistent care that promotes children's emotional security. This helps children to feel safe, supported and ready to thrive.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders plan a curriculum that builds on what children already know and can do. For example, staff notice children using tweezers for the first time. They provide a pestle and mortar for children to practise mixing and crushing. This further helps children to develop hand control and coordination step by step. Staff set up a builders' role play in response to children's interest in construction. They help children to count blocks and compare sizes of towers, building mathematical knowledge.

The curriculum also supports children's emotional wellbeing. Children can express their worries. For instance, they feed concerns about being frightened of the dark to the worry monster, which helps them manage fears and feel more confident. Leaders use additional funding to provide experiences for children who need extra support, such as trips on public transport and visits to new environments, which build their confidence.

Staff model words, such as 'stretch' and 'squeeze', and use signs, songs and actions to help children to understand and join in. These approaches help all children, including those who are learning to speak or need extra support, to communicate confidently. Leaders provide equipment and areas for physical activity, such as ride-on toys and tools to scoop water. However, some furniture and resources are not always well matched to children's size. This means that children cannot fully use their arms or core muscles at these times.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children explore, experiment and learn through hands-on play. They make their own play dough, carefully adding water or flour and changing the mixture when it becomes too sticky or dry. As they do this, children test ideas, follow simple steps and decide what to try next. These experiences help them to think problems through, develop their communication, stay focused and work things out for themselves.

Children grow in confidence as they try new activities and keep going when tasks feel tricky. For example, after reading stories about buildings, children draw their own designs and then try to build them using blocks and construction materials. They describe what they are making, share resources and watch one another's creations. Children learn to take turns and cooperate.

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, engage fully in activities and make steady progress from their starting points. All children are increasingly confident in managing tasks, exploring ideas and taking responsibility for their learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders create a calm and positive environment, where children understand what is expected of them. Children develop cooperation and turn-taking through shared activities. For example, staff use timers at the ball pit to show that only 4 children can play at a time. This helps children to take turns and manage waiting patiently. Staff also encourage children to use 'kind hands', gently reminding them not to hit and showing alternative ways to express their feelings.

Staff support children's emotional wellbeing well. Children follow clear daily routines, which help them settle quickly, manage feelings and understand what happens next. Staff explain the consequences of children's actions and model kind behaviour. This helps children to develop empathy and social awareness. Children learn to adapt and cooperate, understanding how their behaviour impacts others. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to regulate their emotions using strategies such as bouncing or weighted blankets, helping them to focus, manage energy and feel secure.

Staff support smooth transitions between rooms by building secure relationships with each child. They learn about children's interests and routines, providing multiple opportunities to spend time in their new room with new peers. Leaders promote regular attendance and punctuality by working closely with families, including those with varying shift patterns, to ensure that children attend consistently. This continuity helps children settle quickly, follow routines and thrive in a secure environment.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Staff provide predictable daily routines, such as encouraging children to wash their hands and put away personal items. This helps children to understand what is expected and practise responsibility and self-care. At times, staff complete tasks for children rather than allowing them sufficient time to do these independently.

Staff support children's emotional needs through structured transitions. They provide reassurance during new experiences or room changes, giving children time to settle and form positive relationships. Staff send home learning packs focused on children naming their emotions. This helps children to recognise and manage their feelings and understand how to regulate themselves. Staff also support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to manage their emotions, using strategies such as giving children space before gradually introducing group activities. This helps them to stay calm and feel safe while engaging in play.

The setting promotes healthy routines, including organised mealtimes and rest periods. Children cook and explore food. They learn about healthy eating while connecting experiences, such as the flour used in play dough and the flour in pizza served at lunch. Children access movement activities, such as riding toys, scooping water and outdoor exploration, to develop their coordination, strength and control. Sleeping arrangements are well organised, with clean and comfortable beds being checked regularly. This ensures that children's rest and wellbeing are maintained.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders provide clear direction and a shared vision for the setting. Since the last inspection, they have rebuilt the staff team and prioritise reflection, evaluation and targeted training to improve practice. Staff receive thorough induction and ongoing support, with development tailored to their roles, including special educational needs and/or disabilities, behaviour management and early literacy. Leaders ensure that staff apply the knowledge they gain from training effectively. This helps to strengthen interactions, support children's learning and promote inclusion. For example, staff now take children on regular trips to the library to support them to develop a love of books. Leaders prioritise children's needs in all decisions. They plan resources, staffing and the environment so that every child receives the opportunities they need to thrive.

Leaders work closely with families to support children's learning and wellbeing. They maintain open communication, offer guidance on routines and provide practical support, such as making referrals to food banks or connecting families with other community services. Staff send resources home, including books and learning packs, to extend children's experiences beyond the setting and support a consistent approach.

Leaders actively monitor staff's wellbeing and practice through regular supervision sessions, observations and feedback. This ensures that staff feel supported, their practice remains consistent and professional development is effectively implemented.