SOUTHERN CHILDCARE FACILITIES- trading as ACORN NURSERY

Inclusion: Strong standard

Inclusion is at the heart of the nursery's ethos. Leaders and staff have consistently high expectations of all children and demonstrate a committed approach to ensuring every child is valued. They create a safe and highly supportive environment where children feel a strong sense of belonging. Leaders and staff know all children extremely well and demonstrate a detailed understanding of their individual personalities and any barriers they may face in relation to learning and wellbeing. This knowledge enables them to overcome barriers through thoughtful adjustments, adaptations and interventions. For example, they change children's sessions to ensure children get the most from their time in the nursery. Staff work closely with parents to understand children's changing needs and keep them involved in their learning journey every step of the way.

Leaders provide highly effective support to children and their families to ensure children get the help they need. Leaders quickly seek advice from other professionals to provide targeted support. Children who are disadvantaged are equally well supported. For instance, additional funding is used to support some children to attend extra sessions during school holidays to ensure continuity of care. Leaders go above and beyond to ensure that any barriers that families face are supported sensitively. They work exceptionally well with professionals from children's social care and staff in the local school to help children and families who are known or have previously been known to children's social care to be supported effectively.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have a clear understanding of the curriculum and teaching and make regular reflections to bring about improvements. Staff know all the children well and typically use this and regular assessments to support children's progress. Generally, activities planned are meaningful and well thought out. However, at times, staff plan group activities for children without considering individual children's learning and development needs. This means children are not consistently supported to build on what they can already do.

Staff prioritise young children's social and emotional development. Babies are quick to settle and confident to move and explore. Children benefit from regular story time in their daily routines and delight in participating in songs with actions. Staff are skilful in supporting communication and language. As a result, all children are confident communicators. For instance, staff sit at young children's level. They are responsive, model language and give them time to respond. This supports all children, including those who speak English as an additional language and children who need further support with communicating. Staff adapt teaching effectively for children with special educational needs.

Staff support children to develop important social skills, such as turn-taking and sharing. Babies develop their physical skills as they challenge themselves on climbing equipment. Older children carry pots of water to the garden to plant seeds and pick tomatoes carefully, supporting their understanding of the world. Mathematics is clear across each age range. Staff promote counting, measuring and shape recognition through play and routines.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children make steady progress in their achievement across all areas of learning. This ensures they are prepared for their next steps, including schools. All children develop a love for books. Younger children listen carefully, fully immersed in a group story. Older children independently share books with friends, looking at the pictures and sharing ideas. This shows increasing concentration, communication and listening skills. Children use a variety of vocabulary confidently, such as discussing the role of excavators and cranes on a construction site during small-world play. Children demonstrate mathematical understanding as they count and organise xylophone pieces in size order. Throughout the nursery, children show advanced independence. Older children self-serve food, cut their own fruit and pour their own drinks. They wash and dry their own cups and plates after snack time and take responsibility and care of resources in the nursery. Furthermore, children learn to manage their own personal safety, such as learning how to cross roads on outings.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders have created a positive environment where all children thrive. Children are excited to attend, and leaders are proactive and quick to identify non-attendance. This approach supports families and children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those known, or previously known, to social care, to develop a routine of regular attendance for children in preparation for school.

Nurturing and supportive relationships and predictable routines ensure children are prepared for progression within the nursery. This continuous learning journey fosters independence and confidence. Staff are positive role models, and, as a result, children behave well. Staff understand and consider each child's uniqueness and make reasonable adaptations to maintain high expectations of behaviour that reflect the children's ages and stages of development. Any conflict is swiftly dealt with, and clear boundaries are set by staff. Leaders have created routines in the setting that meet the needs of the children in each room. However, at times, staff do not organise the room effectively to ensure a smooth transition to lunchtime. This means some young children wait much longer than their peers to receive lunch, which causes confusion and unnecessary waiting.

Staff teach respect and kindness. When younger children visit the pre-school room for a settling-in session, older children welcome them with hugs and take their hands to invite them to play. There are clear affectionate relationships between the staff and children. Children seek staff out for comfort and are given reassurance when they are upset. Children learn to play together and develop skills of cooperation. This supports children to develop friendships.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Relationships between children and their key person are extremely responsive and trusting. The warm and caring environment ensures that every child and family feels welcome. Leaders and staff are highly responsive to changing family circumstances. As a result, children's needs are understood well by staff. Staff support children to identify and manage their emotions by talking about how they feel. For instance, young children are taught what to do when they are sad and how to calm down when angry. This helps children develop ways to manage their emotional health.

From a young age, children manage their own self-care and develop independence. For example, they clean their faces after lunch using wipes in the mirrors. Pre-school children eagerly wash their own cups and dishes and dry them after lunch. These everyday responsibilities help children to become highly responsible and confident in managing their own needs. During mealtimes and sleep time, staff supervise babies and children closely to ensure their safety.

Children enjoy daily opportunities to be active outdoors. Children enthusiastically explore the outdoor play areas that promote exploration, imaginative play and problem-solving while supporting children's strength, coordination and balance. For example, children play an imaginary game of being chased. They run up and down a grassy hill and hide together in a tunnel, giggling. Children enjoy planting, growing, harvesting and preparing fruit and vegetables. These hands-on opportunities support children to understand where food comes from and encourage them to make healthy choices.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders have established a positive and supportive culture that prioritises children's wellbeing and inclusion. Leaders are dedicated and passionate about the care they provide and have a clear vision. They are committed to ensuring they continually reflect, review and adapt their practice to meet the needs of the changing cohorts. Leaders ensure regular supervision and offer coaching and support to all staff. Leaders understand that more targeted training and professional development opportunities would further upskill staff to ensure ongoing improvements to the quality of learning and development experiences for children. Leaders strive to be approachable and ensure workloads remain manageable, and they care about staff wellbeing. This ensures a low turnover of staff, and staff share they are well supported and are committed to working as a team.

Partnerships with parents are a real strength of the nursery. Parents speak positively about the support their children and families receive, saying that the staff go 'above and beyond' and genuinely care about the children. Parents say they appreciate the intimate feel of the nursery, as if they are 'family'. Parents share how their children have flourished since being at the nursery thanks to the professionalism and dedication of staff.

Leaders have a good understanding of their local community and the context of the setting and work swiftly to ensure families are given the support they need to thrive. Leaders make decisions 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 and ensure that they are supported to access additional support. Where children attend more than one setting, staff communicate with the other setting to share progress. This practice ensures continuity in care.