Rainbows Nursery Southpoint

Inclusion: Strong standard

Inclusion and equality are at the heart of this welcoming setting. Leaders and staff know children and families extremely well. They identify children's individual needs through early observations, daily conversations with parents and carers, communication trackers and individual plans. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing receive swift and effective support to help them to meet their unique needs and support them to move forward in their development. Leaders have high integrity in relation to making a real difference to children and families. They work in close partnership with the local children's centre and a wide range of other professionals, as well as the inclusion team at the local authority. Leaders' wealth of experience and knowledge enables them to contribute ideas in relation to how SEND provision can be enhanced across the setting and the wider borough through contributing to audits and the evaluation of services.

Leaders and staff successfully reduce barriers in a sensitive way. They adapt routines, use visual aids and pictures, implement sign language and review the learning environments in order for children to take part alongside their peers. Support is skilfully and regularly reviewed and adapted when children's needs change. Staff use shared next steps and discussion to check whether the support in place is making a difference. This helps them to see positive changes in children's communication, confidence and independence. Leaders and staff have in-depth knowledge of the importance of using additional funding to target any gaps in children's learning. They invest in communication and language resources to help target this area of development. Leaders are passionate about helping children to understand what makes them unique and about others' lives different to their own. Staff engage in meaningful programmes, which promote equality and celebrate all children through a range of fun and age-appropriate activities. Strategies such as these help to teach children about diversity.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

The curriculum is generally designed well to support all areas of learning. Overall, staff plan effectively for children's individual needs and make adaptations to ensure that all children are able to learn and make positive progress. On occasion, the resources staff use and the way they deliver the curriculum do not fully enable children to extend their language skills and learning to the very highest level. For instance, when playing in the mud kitchen outdoors, although children have lots of fun and gain appropriate new language and counting skills, staff do not help them to fully extend their imagination and problem-solving skills to the highest level.

Throughout the day, children show happiness and eagerness to join in. They enjoy exploring a range of locks, switches and buttons. This fosters their concentration and hand-eye coordination as they play. They also have fun listening to stories such as 'The Gruffalo', and staff support them to discuss his orange eyes and the purple prickles all over his back. This helps to develop their listening and attention skills and builds a love of reading and early literacy. Furthermore, children like participating in drawing with chalks, and staff help them to discuss different facial features and how they feel. During play, staff frequently weave in opportunities for counting and making comparisons. This is evident when they participate in construction activities. They count bricks and discuss which structure is the tallest. This helps to develop children's early awareness of mathematics.

Achievement: Expected standard

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who speak English as an additional language and those who may face other barriers to their learning and wellbeing make positive progress across all areas of learning. They build confidence and demonstrate their independence as they make decisions about their play. They also serve their own food at mealtimes and develop polite table manners as they engage in conversations with staff and their peers. This helps to develop children's attention, social skills and coordination.

Furthermore, children enjoy exploring books about the farm, different animals and what sounds they make. This helps them to build their knowledge of nature and the wider world. Children engage in recycling projects and learn about the importance of caring for the environment. They also engage in activities such as growing vegetables in a community garden to help deepen their knowledge of different fruits and vegetables and what plants need to help them to grow. Children clearly thrive at the setting and are well supported to be ready for their next stage of learning and their eventual move on to school.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Staff are excellent role models. They teach children about kindness, respect and compassion as they frequently role model these values through play, discussions and when exploring stories. Staff actively promote children's personal, social and emotional development. They invest time in helping children to understand about turn-taking and help children to play alongside each other in a harmonious way. Children are actively supported to help to tidy up the toys and resources and to develop respect for their environment. Staff frequently notice and acknowledge children's efforts and offer praise and encouragement. This motivates children and helps them to understand the routines and boundaries of the setting. Staff use a range of strategies to support children to understand about their feelings and emotions. For instance, they redirect children to a calm corner and support them to regulate their emotions by using a range of fidget toys and calming resources. They also frequently name and validate different emotions as they play to help to build their emotional development. Leaders take a keen interest in ensuring children attend regularly. They work closely with the local authority to explore barriers and reasons for inconsistent attendance and put different strategies in place to help children to access their full entitlement of hours.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Children's emotional wellbeing and safety are given high priority. Leaders and staff offer gradual settling procedures where in-depth knowledge is gained about children's differing interests, current stage of development and needs. This information is then skilfully used to ensure children receive responsive support to settle in and gain confidence at the setting. Children form secure attachments with staff who demonstrate excellent knowledge about the importance of building trusting and supportive relationships. They are passionate about helping the whole family to feel happy and a real sense of belonging. For instance, they use translation tools to communicate with parents and carers who do not speak fluent English. This helps to offer collaborative and consistent care and education to children. Leaders and staff are committed to ensuring all children have a voice at the setting. They participate in programmes where they advocate for children's rights and help children to be active decision makers in their play and learning. Furthermore, they arrange talks from local road-safety teams to empower children to understand the importance of road safety.

The setting has also been awarded a 'Healthy Smiles' award for their commitment to offering high-quality food and meals that promote nutrition at the setting. They frequently teach children about healthy choices and plan lots of first-hand experiences to grow different fruits and vegetables and experience new foods. In addition, staff engage in promoting physical development training and deeply reflect on how they support children of all ages to develop their physical skills. For instance, they build in lots of tummy time for babies and support older children to engage in more challenging and risky physical play, for example, by frequently visiting the local park to enhance their strength, coordination and balance. Children's oral health is also promoted superbly. This is apparent when children learn about the importance of caring for their teeth when a dentist comes to visit and also when they receive toothbrushes and toothpaste when they first join the nursery.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leadership and governance are a strength of the setting. Leaders are ambitious, committed and reflective. They are particularly dedicated to ensuring the setting is fully inclusive and that they work in close partnership with harder-to-reach families. Leaders and staff organise frequent stay-and-play sessions where they can give parents informal advice and guidance in relation to dummy use, toilet training, supporting mealtimes and positive behaviour. They also offer frequent support with funding or school applications for parents and carers who have less experience of these processes. Recruitment procedures are rigorous to ensure that staff are suitable for their roles. Leaders also offer a well-structured induction programme that is followed by all newly appointed staff. This includes regular team meetings, supervision arrangements and in-house apprenticeship workshops. Furthermore, leaders provide ongoing modelling and guidance to staff so that they develop a core understanding of child development and are able to deliver supportive care and education. Staff engage in meaningful training, such as baby training, promoting physical development and sleep training. However, at times, leaders do not fully monitor whether key messages from training are consistently implemented. For example, staff do not consistently prioritise how they can fully extend children's learning to the highest level.

Partnerships with parents and building a supportive community are at the centre of the ethos of the nursery. Parents cannot speak more highly of the setting. They state that their children are cherished, celebrated and nurtured by the committed and loving staff. They also highlight that their children are making notable progress and that they love attending.