Sunny Days at Brook

Inclusion: Strong standard

Partnerships with parents and carers are exceptionally strong. Parents engage in their children's learning through opportunities, such as the lending library, development meetings and rich daily communication. They comment on the highly effective collaboration between their child's key persons, leaders and external professionals. These close partnerships ensure that interventions are both timely and well coordinated. This means that parents have an excellent understanding of how targeted support plans are driving their child's progress.

Through targeted training, staff have developed a strong understanding of how to deliver structured interventions. These include short adult-led activities to develop children's focus, attention and communication with confidence and precision. These sessions are highly effective and have made a significant impact on children's attention, engagement and social interaction skills.

Leaders and staff work exceptionally well in partnership with other professionals, including the local authority, to make referrals promptly. They develop personalised support plans that are finely tuned to children's individual needs. Leaders rigorously monitor the effectiveness of all strategies and quickly refine them in response to each child's ongoing development. Leaders thoughtfully use additional funding to secure higher staffing levels. This ensures that every child, particularly those requiring additional support, receives tailored intervention that maximises their progress and wellbeing.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders and staff provide a well-thought-out curriculum. Outdoor learning features strongly in children's learning experiences. During daily visits to forest school, children develop a wide range of skills. They strengthen their core muscles as they climb trees, straddle large logs and even the youngest children carefully navigate the mud banks.

In the outdoor classroom, staff encourage turn-taking and team work as children of different ages explore together. Children work as a team and transport buckets of soil and water across the garden. Staff skilfully introduce mathematical concepts, such as 'full' and 'empty', as children pour liquids into containers. They adapt teaching for older children and introduce more complex vocabulary, such as 'heavy,' to help deepen their understanding. However, some staff are not clear how to foster those spontaneous opportunities to further extend and maximise children's learning.

Staff embed language and communication into the curriculum highly effectively. They share stories daily and offer a lending library so children can take books home and enjoy them with their families. This supports children's developing language and early literacy skills. All staff know their key children well and have a precise understanding of each child's next steps. They speak confidently about the progress children make.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children benefit from a thoughtfully designed curriculum that supports and enhances their overall development. Children with identified delays in their speech receive targeted support, such as small language group sessions. This targeted intervention, helps to closes any gaps in children's communication skills quickly.

Children are well prepared for school. They take part in circle times, which are adapted to give those children who need it time to adjust to routines. This significantly enhances children's attention and listening skills, which enables all children to participate enthusiastically in group activities. Their growing confidence is evident as they proudly practise songs for their Christmas concert. This supports children's emotional wellbeing and readiness for future learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Children demonstrate that they feel safe and valued. They show high levels of respect for others and respond to staff's instructions. For example, they eagerly help to tidy resources and line up calmly before heading to the woodland area. Children show increasing independence as they put on their outdoor clothing and confidently seek help when required.

Staff have strong bonds with children. They are tuned into children's individual needs and swiftly put in place strategies to support them. For example, to support children that struggle with daily transitions, they have introduced a 'holding tray'. This enables children to return to an activity after a change in routine, which helps them regulate their emotions more successfully. Children engage enthusiastically in collaborative play. Staff give children encouragement to discuss their ideas as they work together to build constructions. They respond warmly and sensitively when minor disagreements arise. However, on occasion, staff do not hold reflective discussions with children to help them to fully understand how their actions may have an impact on the feelings of others.

Leaders share their policy and procedure with parents and carers to help them to understand their expectations for children's attendance. They give parents support and guidance where there are barriers, such as to punctuality, which have a positive impact on the wellbeing of children.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Staff recognise the importance of strong attachments and children feeling emotionally secure as a foundation for successful play and learning. Children are eager to arrive each day and separate from their parents and carers without hesitation. They are highly motivated and excited to follow their interests.

Children enjoy playing with their friends and hurry to activities that spark their curiosity. For example, they work together to find and move natural resources to make dens. When children come across insects, staff engage them in discussion about being gentle and children carefully move them to a safe place. This helps children learn how to care for living things. When they need support, children are confident to ask staff for help. This shows the strong bonds they have with staff. These positive relationships give children the confidence to take safe risks and practise their skills. For example, when they run and tumble, they simply brush themselves down and get up again.

There are very robust arrangements to support children's health and wellbeing. Staff teach children to develop effective personal care habits, including blowing their noses and regular handwashing. Children eat well-balanced meals and snacks and delight in exercise and fresh air daily.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders demonstrate a strong commitment to continuous improvement. Recent targeted training has had a significant impact on how staff support those children that struggle with regulating their emotions. However, leaders do not monitor staff precisely enough to ensure the new skills and knowledge of staff are being consistently applied and embedded into their daily practice. For example, staff do not seize opportunities when they arise, to help children to understand how their actions may impact on others.

Leaders implement robust recruitment and vetting procedures to ensure that staff are suitable for their roles. Following a recent recruitment drive, they have a full staff team in place. This will allow leaders additional time to observe practice, support staff development and evaluate the quality of teaching even more precisely across the setting.

Leaders prioritise staff's wellbeing through regular supervision sessions. They offer coaching and guidance, such as to help staff plan for their key children. Staff show high levels of commitment to improving outcomes for children and are positive about the support they receive from leaders.

Leaders seek guidance from external professionals and swiftly implement advice to support children's development. This enables them to respond quickly to any emerging gaps in children's learning, ensuring timely and well-coordinated support.