Seashells Nursery

Inclusion: Expected standard

Staff identify children's needs early through ongoing observation and assessment. They use this information to plan appropriate support that helps children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to make steady progress from their starting points. Referrals are made promptly, when further support is needed, and leaders work effectively with other professionals to ensure that children are making progress. Leaders use funding to further support these children, investing in resources that specifically support their needs.

Staff take steps to reduce the barriers for children, who face challenges in their learning. They adapt their practice so that children can participate fully. For example, sensory needs are supported by ensuring that children are able to access the right environment for them. However, leaders identify that staff would benefit from further training in strategies to support children's individual needs to further strengthen practice within the setting.

Leaders and staff build positive partnerships with parents and offer guidance that helps them to feel confident in supporting their children's learning and development. Leaders work closely with the attached children's centre to ensure that parents have the support they need.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

All children enjoy a wide variety of activities that support all areas of the curriculum. Staff have a good understanding of each individual child's stage of development and interests and use this information to broadly plan learning activities. For example, children engage in a play dough activity. Staff add pasta to the play dough and children use these resources to make birthday cakes. Children sing along to simple songs during play and use their imaginations, when creating with the play dough. Staff support children to build their social skills through turn-taking and sharing and encourage the use of mathematical language, when reading books and playing with the animals.

Staff support children's communication and language skills well through their engaging interactions with the children. Staff model new vocabulary to children, who often repeat the words back to them. Staff follow children's lead in their play. When children lose interest in an activity, staff adapt the activity to further support the children's interests. For example, during a messy play activity, children want to go back and forth to the sink to wash their hands, staff notice this and encourage the children to wash the animals they have been playing with in a bowl of clean water.

Staff ensure that all children can participate in the activities on offer. They adapt activities to meet these children's needs, for example when children are less mobile activities are set up in low-down trays that they can reach. Staff weave a variety of learning through the activities, although this is not always planned and intentional. This means that children are not always learning as much as they could be.

Achievement: Expected standard

All children make steady progress from their starting points. Staff know the children well and provide appropriate support that helps them build the foundations they need for future learning. Children are encouraged to develop their independence skills, such as washing their hands, eating with cutlery and drinking from open cups. They learn to play cooperatively with each other, sharing and taking turns.

Children access outdoor play that supports their gross motor skills. Younger children learn to walk with support from staff, while older children engage in a variety of gross motor play, such as riding bikes, climbing and kicking balls. These growing skills support their confidence and readiness for their next stage in learning, however, as teaching is not consistently targeted to individual children's needs they do not always make the progress they are capable of.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Staff have high expectations for all children, and these are reinforced through well-established routines that help children to understand what is expected of them. Staff provide a positive and calming environment for the children and adapt their expectations to support children's varying needs. For example, when children find group times overwhelming, staff take them outside to sing their morning welcome song.

Children behave well and play cooperatively. When minor disagreements occur, staff respond swiftly and calmly, supporting children to resolve issues. Children have trusting bonds with staff. They readily seek comfort and reassurance and staff respond sensitively, helping children to have a sense of security. Staff encourage children to have good attitudes to learning through praise and encouragement. However, staff are not always aware of the skills and attitudes that they are encouraging children to learn. This means that children are not always developing positive attitudes to learning as fully as they could be.

Leaders promote attendance and recognise the importance for children's learning and development. They monitor non-attendance closely and promptly follow up with families to ensure children are attending regularly. Where there are concerns about children's attendance these concerns are escalated appropriately.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Children's wellbeing is consistently prioritised across the setting. Staff create a nurturing, calm and predictable environment, where children feel safe and secure. They are exceptionally attentive to children's changing needs and respond with warmth and sensitivity, ensuring that all children receive the reassurance and comfort they require.

Staff actively promote children's independence, with a clear progression in expectations across the age groups. Younger children use beakers confidently while older children use open cups and pour drinks for themselves. Healthy habits are promoted effectively. Staff support children to understand the importance of handwashing and making healthy choices at mealtimes. Leaders have worked closely with parents to strengthen their understanding of healthy packed lunches. On the whole, children now bring in food that is nutritious.

Children's individual care routines are well understood and communicated. Sleep arrangements meet children's needs with babies benefiting from a dedicated sleep room, where they are monitored closely to ensure their safety.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders provide clear direction and ensure that the setting runs smoothly. They have established a consistent supervision system that supports staff to understand their roles and responsibilities, meeting with each team member regularly to review their practise and offer advice and support that helps them to develop their skills. Supervisions have helped leaders to identify training needs and training has been completed to support staff in their roles. For example, it was identified that staff needed further training in supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities needs. The setting's special educational needs coordinator has delivered training to staff that has helped them to develop these skills. Staff report that workloads are manageable and that they feel supported by the leaders.

Leaders monitor practice and children's progress, identifying where improvements are needed. They use this information to guide staff to make adjustments to their practice. This helps to ensure that all children's needs are being met. However, leaders have identified that staff would benefit from further training in how to adapt their practice more independently to meet children's individual needs. Leaders work well with parents and external professionals to ensure that children are receiving the support they need. For example, leaders work with parents to ensure that staff have a list of home language words for each child that speaks English as an additional language, this ensures that children are understood when they are using these key words to communicate.