Puffin Pre-School Ltd

Inclusion: Strong standard

Staff and leaders are highly skilled and experienced. They implement effective and innovative strategies to identify children's emerging needs and respond promptly. Secure partnerships with parents and carers, and a range of external professionals including speech and language therapists, ensure that children receive comprehensive support from the earliest stage. This helps to remove potential barriers to learning. For example, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are introduced to sign language during story sessions focused on feelings and emotions. This enhances children's communication and language development and aligns closely with individual intervention plans, which are carefully monitored by experienced leaders.

Leaders and staff demonstrate a clear and confident understanding of how to make precise, purposeful adaptations to meet individual needs. They engage in targeted professional development to keep their knowledge up to date, including training in supporting children who speak English as an additional language and autism awareness. Staff and leaders thoughtfully plan and organise meaningful activities tailored to the specific needs of children with SEND. They regularly review these to ensure children make sustained and relevant progress in their learning.

Leaders make effective use of additional funding. This ensures that children facing barriers to learning benefit from high-quality, tailored and enriching experiences. For instance, children have access to a calm, dedicated space equipped with climbing resources that support physical exploration and emotional self-regulation. In addition, staff and leaders consistently provide high levels of support, enabling all children to rapidly develop the skills and confidence required to become independent and motivated learners.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders are highly experienced and knowledgeable and hold ambitious expectations for what children can achieve. They ensure learning is carefully aligned with children's individual needs, abilities and interests. Leaders design an inclusive, well-sequenced and ambitious curriculum that is embedded consistently across all areas of learning. This curriculum is thoughtfully adapted so that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, as well as those facing barriers to learning, benefit from rich and meaningful experiences. Staff and leaders implement the curriculum consistently and effectively. This gives them a clear and accurate understanding of what children know and can do.

Staff foster a secure love of reading from the earliest stages. For example, during a messy play activity, staff introduce a story about recycling. This provides meaningful opportunities for children to learn about caring for the environment. Children are encouraged to sort different types of 'rubbish' and place them into the correct bins. They are deeply engaged in this activity and work collaboratively with their peers, which supports their understanding of the world as well as sustained listening and attention. In addition, during mealtimes, nurturing staff encourage children to lift and carry food trays. This helps them develop an understanding of the mathematical concept of 'heavy'.

Staff and leaders place a high priority on supporting children's emotional development. They create a calm and nurturing environment where children learn to recognise, understand and express their feelings and emotions. Children also have opportunities to develop their gross motor skills, balance and coordination as they explore a wide range of climbing equipment. For instance, staff encourage children to collaborate with their peers and use large magnetic tiles to build dens and tunnels. Children laugh and giggle with excitement as they take part in physical games and confidently follow rules. These experiences further support children's problem-solving skills and emerging cognitive development.

Achievement: Strong standard

Children make rapid and sustained progress from their individual starting points. They take part in rich and purposeful learning experiences. Younger children confidently learn and use new words, such as 'pineapple' and 'kiwi', as they explore the textures of different fruit peels. Older children skilfully use scissors with increasing control. They design their own special cards and show high levels of independence. Children strengthen their fine motor skills, dexterity and hand-eye coordination. They experiment with a wide range of mark-making tools to create detailed pictures of bugs. Outdoors, children quickly develop an understanding of cause and effect. They roll cars down pipes, carefully watching what happens next. Children confidently combine a variety of materials during messy play, and show curiosity and fascination with the results of their exploration.

Children's communication and language skills flourish through highly effective interactions with staff and their peers. They engage eagerly in meaningful conversations. For example, they discuss what happens at their homes during rubbish collection and share ideas about how they can help to look after the planet. Children who face barriers to learning also make swift and meaningful progress. They settle quickly and show enthusiasm and confidence to take part in all learning opportunities. All children develop the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to transition successfully and securely to the next stage of their education.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Staff and leaders hold very high expectations for all children, who consistently rise to these challenges with confidence and ease. Daily routines are well established, which helps children develop a clear understanding of what happens next. For example, children patiently watch a sand timer before requesting access to the soft-play area. This demonstrates a robust understanding of the rules they are expected to follow. Staff also encourage children to share resources, take turns and work collaboratively. For instance, during a game of 'The Floor Is Lava', children wait patiently for their turn to step on the stones and climb over suitable equipment to avoid obstacles. These experiences support children in developing positive and respectful relationships with their peers.

Staff are exemplary role models who communicate behaviour expectations clearly and in ways that are appropriate for children's ages and stages of development. They reinforce positive behaviour through explicit praise and consistent modelling. In addition, staff and leaders organise regular visits to a local care home, where children interact sensitively with older people and learn to show empathy and kindness. All children show positive attitudes. They behave extremely well and demonstrate high levels of respect and consideration towards both peers and adults.

Leaders are committed to ensuring that children do not miss out on valuable learning opportunities and have robust systems in place to monitor attendance. This includes carrying out home visits when required. Leaders work closely with parents and carers to gain a deeper understanding of each family's circumstances. This enables them to offer appropriate guidance, advice and targeted support.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Staff and leaders are caring, nurturing and excellent role models. They create a calm and welcoming environment where children form positive, trusting relationships with both staff and their peers. Routines such as mealtimes are carefully supervised, and staff thoughtfully guide children to make healthy choices while developing their independence. For example, children confidently choose their preferred snacks and safely cut their own bananas. They talk with ease and confidence about the foods they enjoy, further strengthening their language skills and understanding of healthy lifestyles.

Staff actively promote a healthy and active lifestyle, which children embrace with enthusiasm and enjoyment. Children use climbing equipment safely and confidently, and develop a secure understanding of personal safety. For instance, they crawl through tunnels and skilfully balance on stepping stones as they engage happily with their peers during chosen games. Children are supported highly effectively by nurturing staff to understand, express and manage their feelings and emotions. Routines are securely embedded. Each day begins with children sharing how they are feeling and why, with additional support provided when needed. All children, including those who face barriers to learning, express themselves confidently and develop a secure sense of emotional wellbeing, security and resilience.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders are highly ambitious and reflective. They are deeply committed to providing children with the best possible start to their early education. This vision is fully shared by all staff, who demonstrate pride, dedication and professionalism in their work. Leaders have a clear and accurate understanding of the setting's strengths. They actively promote a culture of continuous improvement to enhance children's learning experiences. For example, they organise daily visits to the local tennis court and vegetable allotment. This gives children rich, first-hand opportunities to explore nature and develop their understanding of the world around them. Leaders foster secure and meaningful partnerships with parents and carers and the wider community. Parents speak highly of the setting and particularly value the highly effective emphasis placed on developing children's emotional resilience. They report that their children thrive and express appreciation for the unique and enriching learning experiences provided by staff and leaders.

Leaders place a high priority on staff wellbeing and professional development. They empower staff through tailored training opportunities and regular supervision meetings. This strengthens professional knowledge, enhances staff skills and builds on their confidence. All staff report high levels of job satisfaction. They experience clear opportunities for career growth, and develop increasing expertise in delivering high-quality care and education alongside inspirational leaders. Through their proactive and inclusive approach, leaders and staff ensure that all children, including those who may face barriers to learning, feel welcomed, valued and supported to thrive within this distinctive and inclusive setting.