Stars Day Nurseries Ltd t/a Little Stars Day Nursery

Inclusion: Strong standard

The setting has created an inclusive culture that reflects the diverse community in which the children live. Highly effective leadership embeds inclusivity across the setting. Staff closely monitor children's progress and very quickly identify when they need support and where to access relevant training or guidance. Leaders regularly review assessments and hold reflective discussions to decide on any interventions, involving parents and carers. Staff take time to understand each child's background, strengths and needs, which helps them to plan support that is both personalised and consistent.

Staff who lead work with children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are highly experienced and make swift referrals to other professionals and maintain clear communication to ensure a consistently coordinated approach. Staff use individual plans to guide their support for children with SEND and proactively review these regularly to reflect all children's emerging needs.

Leaders are quick to identify a range of different barriers to children's learning or wellbeing. These may relate to changes to children's home life or cultural celebrations. Leaders monitor every child's progress carefully and use additional funding thoughtfully to support disadvantaged children, those with SEND, those known to children's social care, and children facing wider barriers in discussion with the parents, focusing on the children's needs and interests.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Staff plan a curriculum that helps children to build on what they know and can do and achieve well. They create an environment and activities that spark curiosity, where children can explore freely and build on their learning. For instance, staff engage children to explore sustainability and recycling while using old boxes to make robots.

Staff gather information from parents when children first start, which helps them to understand children's prior learning and experiences. They use this information to plan each child's next step in learning and regularly observe and assess children's progress. Staff help children do things for themselves. For example, children self-serve meals and drinks, and help to clear away their plates.

Staff purposely teach children about mathematics. They encourage children to discuss the shapes they can identify when drawing their homes or when using a remote-controlled toy. Children confidently use wheeled toys in the outside play area, showing appropriate spatial awareness as they move safely around others. Staff support children's physical skills. For example, they encourage them to put on the doctor's outfit and wrap a bandage around the staff member's arm.

However, the curriculum for communication and language is not as well planned and taught as other areas. For example, staff do not consistently introduce new vocabulary or model language during play, the manager has highlighted communication and language as a priority within the setting.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children make steady progress from their starting points across all areas of learning, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. Emotional security is prioritised, particularly in the baby room, where positive attachments are nurtured. Children who speak English as an additional language are well supported, such as through objects of reference or help from bilingual staff. This helps to ensure that every child can express themselves confidently.

Children are curious and show determination when faced with challenges. They collaborate well, for example, when programming a remote-controlled dog and taking turns. Children gain a love of books and enjoy shared reading and engage in monthly nursery-wide topics. Children also enjoy being active, whether balancing, running with staff, or digging in the sand. These physical experiences build strength, coordination, and resilience, helping to prepare all children for the next stage of learning, including school.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Children behave well throughout the setting. They benefit from the caring and stimulating environment that the staff nurture. Routines are firmly established from the baby room through to pre-school, with children understanding expectations and responding attentively to adults. In the garden, the children join in with staff, clapping and singing to indicate tidy-up time, then work together to put the resources away. Staff teach children the language of feelings, helping them to develop their emotional literacy appropriately.

Staff's in-depth knowledge of their key children helps to ensure that each child is cared for in accordance with their individual needs. They are very responsive to the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff provide a consistent approach and apply individual strategies so that each child can take part and feel secure. This helps children to develop positive attitudes to learning. Staff build effective partnerships with parents, helping babies and children to develop secure, positive attachments with their key person. Leaders help families to keep their children attending regularly and offer support when family situations change, so that children can continue receiving consistent care and education.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Leaders have a thorough and well-embedded understanding of how to support children's welfare and wellbeing. The effective key-person system ensures that staff know each child extremely well and their family circumstances. Bespoke settling-in arrangements, including personalised sessions, enable staff to respond immediately to individual needs. As a result, new babies feel safe, secure and self-assured, and willingly follow well-established routines, such as sleep schedules. Staff foster children's independence, starting in the baby room, where they find their own shoes in a basket. This continues through to the other rooms, where children gain the skills to do more for themselves, such as managing their personal hygiene.

Staff very carefully adapt the learning environment and activities effectively to meet the specific needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. During lunchtime routines, children consistently demonstrate independence skills as they are encouraged to self-serve, pour their own drinks and feed themselves. Children learn good handwashing skills and understand how this helps to keep them safe and healthy. They are supported to recognise and manage their feelings, thereby developing emotional and social skills.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders demonstrate real perseverance in ensuring that every child receives a high standard of education and care, and they hold ambitious expectations for all. They invest considerable effort in building positive, effective relationships with parents, carers, and external professionals so that children can flourish, whatever their starting points, backgrounds, or abilities. Their shared vision is clear, and children remain at the heart of every decision they make.

Leaders are reflective in their practice. They use a range of activities to ensure that practice is continually reviewed and refined. This drives high standards across the nursery and ensures that decisions benefit all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Staff report high levels of wellbeing and support for their individual circumstances. Appraisals are held frequently, providing an opportunity for staff to identify any professional development they would like to pursue. They place a clear focus on staff professional development, ensuring staff are well supported in their roles. This demonstrates they are an effective, well-established team. This has a positive impact on children as they are surrounded by respectful and empathetic staff.