The Old Station Nursery Canterbury

Inclusion: Expected standard

Staff know their children and families well, and use this considered approach to adapt activities, routines, and everyday interactions for the children in their care. This understanding of individual needs supports the leader's vision of a genuinely inclusive environment, ensuring that every child feels warmly welcomed and valued. Children develop positive relationships and engage confidently in the experiences available. All children are fully enabled to participate in all aspects of the setting alongside their peers.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, receive appropriate support that enables them to participate successfully. Staff work closely with parents, carers and relevant professionals to implement agreed strategies and respond to children's changing needs. This helps children to feel secure and access the provision successfully.

Leaders and staff actively promote respect for others, encouraging children to appreciate a rich variety of cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. Children learn to demonstrate kindness and consideration in all of their daily interactions. They build mutual respect as they value one another's uniqueness and learn what makes them different and unique.

Leaders have established effective working relationships with families and external agencies. However, staff are not always consistent at ensuring that any identified barriers to learning are swiftly addressed to ensure that children make the best possible progress.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Children enjoy a varied curriculum which encourages them to be explorative, independent and develop strong attitudes towards learning. Leaders and staff implement the curriculum effectively to help children progress in their learning. Staff use books throughout the nursery to promote children's understanding, language and imagination. For example, babies look at pictures and listen intently as staff use expressive voices to read. Children visit the local library. This helps them to make their own choices about books that appeal to their interest and to develop a love of literacy.

Generally, staff's teaching helps children to progress well. They plan activities to help build on children's confidence in creativity. For example, children explore play dough and experiment with different ways to imprint objects of interest into their creations. Children practice manipulating the dough with their fingers, supporting their physical development. Additionally, staff support children to develop their mathematical skills. For instance, they show children the number 2, as well as indicating the corresponding number displayed on the wall. At times, staff's planning of activities is not of a consistently high quality. For example, they do not always ensure that some aspects of group activities are appropriate to the age and stage of development of the children they have planned for.

Achievement: Expected standard

Staff and leaders ensure that children make steady progress from their starting points and develop key skills across all areas of learning. For example, babies build physical strength as they learn to crawl and balance, while younger children rapidly develop their language skills by joining in with rhymes and songs. As they grow, older children build confidence by independently exploring the environment and choosing their own play. They also learn to recognise and write their names, ensuring they are fully prepared to transition on to school successfully.

Children demonstrate that they are happy, settled, and grow in confidence as they play. They speak politely to one another, play cooperatively, and show good self-control. They love joining in with activities and build wonderful friendships with their peers and adults alike.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Children play and learn in calm yet stimulating areas, that are well resourced and appealing to all. Leaders and staff ensure that the learning environment is varied and stimulating, which supports children to remain highly engaged and focused on their learning. Staff support children to know what to expect and explain the consequences of their actions on themselves and others.

Children follow routines well and understand what is happening now and next. This helps them to feel safe and secure. Due to staff deploying themselves effectively throughout the learning space, they support children to work collaboratively with others. Staff identify children who need further support to regulate their behaviour, and provide specific places in the rooms for them to sit quietly and find calm, quieter activities.

Inspirational leaders maintain robust and deeply supportive partnerships with families. They work with parents and carers to remove any barriers to attendance, offering bespoke flexibility with days and hours whenever they can accommodate this. Consequently, children attend regularly, love their time at the nursery, and make steady and ongoing progress.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Children show that they feel happy and safe at the setting. Staff are kind in their interactions, and children approach them for reassurance and praise for their achievements. Children who are considered as disadvantaged have additional support, whereby leaders use allocated funding to target any potential challenges and to help maintain progress.

Aspects such as safer sleeping and eating guidance have been well considered by leaders. Staff work with parents to tailor care plans that are individual to each child, and that keep them safe and well. Generally, staff consider the backgrounds of the children that attend, and support parents with strategies to help children's progress with personal care, such as potty training.

The setting offers a nutritious menu and promotes a healthy and active lifestyle. Planned activities help children to understand good habits in oral health, such as cleaning their teeth properly and regularly. Children learn how to stay happy and well through positive learning experiences.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders work highly collaboratively as a team and have high expectations for all children. They work to continuously evaluate the nursery and regularly reflect on what is working well, and what needs to be better. This ensures that children's and staff's best interests continue to be a priority.

Leaders have clear plans to promote the continuous enhancement of the nursery. For example, staff take part in bespoke training to ensure that they can maximise the support for children, as well as enhance their own skills and professional development. Leaders who specialise in special educational needs and/or disabilities cascade training to upskill staff knowledge and understanding of supporting children who may face barriers to their learning. Leaders are champions for children's learning and wellbeing, working with other professional agencies as necessary to ensure that every child succeeds.

Staff report high levels of wellbeing, and they feel motivated to gain higher childcare qualifications, which helps the nursery constantly improve. Parents and carers speak very highly of the team, deeply appreciating both the personal support they receive and the excellent care given to their children's learning.