Speckles Day Nursery

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders promote a warm, inclusive culture, where every child is seen as an individual and made to feel valued. Staff know children well and make effective use of observations, assessments, starting points and the progress check at age 2, to understand what children can do and what they need to learn next. They build trusting, respectful relationships with families and ensure that parents' insights meaningfully contribute to each child's learning needs.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from tailored support that helps to remove barriers to learning and enables them to access the curriculum with confidence. These include visual aids, emotion cards, photographic cues to support routines, and prompts that help children understand expectations and daily transitions. Younger children also benefit from clear gestures and modelling, which strengthen their early communication and understanding of routines.

Leaders work closely with the local authority early years and inclusion teams, seeking timely guidance and making referrals promptly. This ensures early identification leads to purposeful action that supports children's progress. Disadvantaged children receive sensitive, tailored support through partnerships with families and external professionals. Leaders take strategic and thoughtful steps to reduce barriers, so that all children feel welcomed and supported. This enables them to thrive in the setting.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have a clear understanding of the curriculum and quality of teaching. Staff provide a broad and varied curriculum for the children that particularly focuses on their interests. Staff know the children well and provide play opportunities that follow these interests. This supports what children need to learn next. For example, younger children learn about shadows following an interest in a particular book. Older children build dexterity as they mould clay.

Typically, staff have a secure knowledge of the curriculum and interact well with the children. They provide a narrative as children play. However, staff do not consistently adapt their practice during activities to fully promote children's individual next steps in learning. Most children develop well in their physical development. They use pipettes to fill pots with water, use crayons to draw and ride on wheeled toys in the garden. Staff support children's language skills as they narrate and introduce new words to children. Children are developing effective mathematical skills as they practise number recognition and staff introduce mathematical language, such as 'taller', as they build towers.

Achievement: Expected standard

All children make steady progress from their starting points, including those with special educational needs and/or barriers to their learning. Children build their knowledge and skills as they move through the setting and are prepared for their next steps in learning. Children enjoy books and stories as part of their learning and develop a love of books. They grow in confidence as they communicate and play with their friends.

Children are confident in the environment. They are eager to explore and enjoy the interactions that they have with staff. They independently lead their own play and access resources freely. Children confidently express their needs and enjoy staff joining in with their play. They demonstrate high levels of concentration and attention. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make progress in their development as they play alongside other children, taking turns, mark making and making a malleable dough for their friends to play with. Children of all ages are very physically capable. They take on physical challenges outdoors, such as negotiating obstacles and practicing yoga positions with staff. All children do well in the setting and are well prepared for the next stage of learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Children build respectful and trusting relationships with staff, which helps them to feel safe and secure in the setting. Staff deploy themselves effectively across different areas of the environment, supporting children to remain engaged in activities that capture their interests. Staff working with babies are responsive to children's individual needs. For example, they provide gentle encouragement for babies to confidently access all areas of the room and practise their walking as they develop their physical skills.

Children typically behave well. Staff reminded children to use their manners and support them to learn how to take turns. For example, staff encourage children to wait patiently as they take turns and wait for resources. Children in the toddler and pre-school rooms enjoy their time as daily helpers.

Routines are established throughout the nursery and transitions from room to room are smooth and help children to understand what is expected of them as they move through the nursery. Children play collaboratively with other children and include them in their games. For example, a group of children help each other as they build towers in the construction area and to turn on the tap to water the plants.

Effective systems are in place for leaders to monitor children's attendance and liaise with parents regarding absences, helping to ensure attendance remains consistently high.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Children benefit from warm, caring relationships with staff, who know them extremely well. Leaders and staff work closely with families, when they join, to ensure that they settle in well and have a positive start to their nursery journey. Children are encouraged to share their emotions, and staff use a range of strategies to support them to express themselves. For example, staff use visual cues and activities to support children to understand their emotions. As a result, children show emotional security and are ready to learn.

Leaders ensure that children's health and wellbeing are typically promoted well by staff. Free access to outdoors and daily fresh air further promotes their overall wellbeing. However, during some routines younger children do not consistently benefit from opportunities to be independent, such as being encouraged to practise their walking skills as they move between activities and serving their own meals. Consequently, opportunities for the younger children to develop long-lasting healthy habits are not yet embedded.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders have established clear systems to oversee the quality of the provision. Overall, leaders and staff monitor children's learning, development and wellbeing through observations and assessment. Leaders provide staff with supervision sessions and regular professional discussions to help them assess children's progress. Self-evaluation is informed by monitoring activities, feedback from parents and staff and ongoing reflection, enabling leaders to identify priorities that support continuous improvement.

Leaders generally support staff's professional development through mandatory training, local authority training during inset days, coaching, supervision sessions and regular staff meetings. Professional discussions, peer observations and coaching help staff reflect on their practice while mandatory training, including safeguarding and paediatric first aid, ensures staff maintain the knowledge required for their roles. Leaders are keen for staff to develop their professional knowledge and support staff to gain qualifications.

Leaders have established positive partnerships with parents and the wider community. Daily communication, progress meetings and an open-door approach help parents contribute to their children's learning and wellbeing. Leaders also work closely with early years services and external professionals to support children's transitions and coordinate additional support where required.