The Home Nursery

Inclusion: Strong standard

Children benefit from an inclusive and nurturing environment where leaders and staff have a strong understanding of their individual needs and circumstances. Information gathered through settling-in sessions, including children's starting points, interests, routines and family backgrounds, is used effectively to inform planning and ensure children receive appropriate support from the outset. Staff know their key children well and work closely with parents and other professionals to provide consistent and responsive care.

Leaders are highly committed to removing barriers to learning and recognise that these can arise from a range of factors, including disadvantage, family circumstances, parental mental health, domestic abuse and special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Practical support, such as signposting families to community services, accessing food vouchers and providing additional opportunities, helps to improve children's wellbeing and engagement. Early years pupil premium funding is used effectively to increase attendance, enhance learning experiences and provide resources and training that benefit children's development.

Children with SEND receive carefully tailored support. Staff use observations, baseline assessments, sensory audits and individual support plans to identify needs and monitor progress accurately. Leaders work closely with parents, the local authority and specialist agencies to secure timely interventions. Targeted sensory provision and personalised strategies help children develop confidence, engagement and independence. As a result, all children are fully included in the life of the setting, make consistent progress from their starting points and are well prepared for their next stage of learning.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

The nursery provides a broad and balanced curriculum that supports children's learning across all areas of development. Daily experiences are planned to promote communication and language. For instance, staff model correct language, encouraging babies to babble, while others skilfully integrate new vocabulary into daily conversation to support children's speech and language development. Opportunities to support physical development and mathematics are woven into play. For example, babies have 'tummy time'. Older children count the legs on the insects and talk about shapes, colours and texture while creating symmetrical butterflies. Additionally, they enjoy taking risks such as climbing trees and riding balance bikes to support their physical development.

The nursery also works closely with local schools to support children's transition to Reception. Although leaders have recently introduced more comprehensive strategies to support children moving on to school, such as activities focusing on developing children's emotional and social skills, these developments are in the early stages of implementation and do not consistently build on what children already know and can do.

Partnerships with parents, external professionals and other early years settings help to ensure continuity in children's learning for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Information is regularly shared to support children's individual needs. This enables a 2-way approach to children's development.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children make typical progress across all areas of learning and develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed. They form secure and trusting relationships with their key person, settle quickly into the setting and demonstrate emotional security when separating from parents and carers. This provides a strong foundation for future learning, enabling children to engage confidently in play and participate fully in the curriculum.

Children develop age-appropriate communication and language skills. They listen attentively to stories and conversations, respond thoughtfully to questions, and increasingly use a broad range of vocabulary to express their ideas and experiences. This includes children who speak English as an additional language, who are well supported to develop their understanding and communication.

Children grow in confidence, independence and social awareness. They play cooperatively, take turns and show consideration for others. During outdoor play, children explore sand and water, counting scoops, identifying textures and discussing shapes, strengthening their mathematical, physical and language development through purposeful, hands-on experiences.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders establish clear expectations for behaviour, attitudes and daily routines. The nursery provides a welcoming and nurturing environment where children feel safe and secure. Staff understand their responsibilities and apply expectations consistently. Leaders maintain effective oversight of attendance, following up promptly when children are absent and working closely with families to identify and address concerns. This supports children's welfare and minimises potential disruption to learning.

Children develop secure and trusting relationships with staff, who interact with them in a calm, respectful and reassuring manner. Children consistently behave well, demonstrate kindness and respond positively to adult guidance. When children experience difficulties, staff provide sensitive support and encouragement, helping them manage their emotions and return to learning and play.

Children demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning and increasing independence in managing routines. They listen attentively during shared activities, move confidently between experiences and understand expectations such as waiting, sharing and taking turns. Staff promote emotional development through conversations about feelings, relationships and respectful behaviour. Familiar, predictable routines help younger children feel secure and engage confidently.

Leaders recognise and respond to children's individual needs. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive appropriate targeted support. Staff work collaboratively to ensure consistency in behaviour management. Consequently, children develop confidence and resilience and are well prepared for future learning.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Leaders provide effective strategic leadership of children's welfare and wellbeing. They place the children's emotional wellbeing, belonging and care at the centre of the setting's work. Children's healthy lifestyles are promoted, and children enjoy nutritious snacks and drinks. Children are supported with oral health through activities, while older children take part in early years supervised toothbrushing.

Leaders ensure that parents understand the importance of providing a healthy lunch box and good oral hygiene and support children to understand online safety. Typically, staff encourage children to be independent through activities such as choosing resources. However, staff do not consistently enable older children to be more independent, particularly during mealtimes, to support their autonomy skills further.

The environments are inclusive to all children, stimulating and offer safe spaces. Physical play and outdoor exploration encourage children to engage in activities that support their wellbeing. For instance, they enjoy time in the garden looking for insects, talking about and looking at nature. This helps to promote their welfare while staff provide opportunities for children to relax, develop social interaction and build valuable life skills such as confidence, teamwork and communication.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leadership and governance are strong across the nursery. Leaders have a clear vision for providing high-quality care and education and maintain high expectations for children's learning, development and wellbeing. Through effective monitoring, self-evaluation and research-informed practice, leaders have an accurate understanding of the nursery's strengths and areas for development. For example, they identified the need to review the curriculum to better reflect children's changing needs and interests. As a result, the curriculum has been enhanced to provide more meaningful and relevant learning experiences.

A culture of continuous improvement is firmly embedded. Regular leadership and staff meetings encourage reflective practice and contribute to ongoing improvement planning. Staff benefit from targeted training in safeguarding, communication and language, emotional wellbeing and sensory approaches. This has strengthened practice, with staff confidently extending children's vocabulary, modelling language effectively and providing activities that support engagement and regulation.

Effective induction, supervision and coaching support a knowledgeable and committed workforce. Staff report feeling valued through a range of wellbeing initiatives, including birthday hampers, company events and 'Wellbeing Wednesdays'. Partnerships with parents are highly effective. Parents speak extremely positively about the leadership team and the progress their children make. Families also benefit from practical support, including access to community services, food vouchers and ongoing guidance from leaders during holiday periods when needed.