The Wantage Nursery & Preschool

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders ensure that children's individual needs, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are identified very quickly. They act immediately to implement necessary changes and seek support from wider professionals. As a result, children receive the right help straight away and are able to thrive. Leaders consistently consider potential barriers to learning and use additional funding effectively to enrich children's experiences and meet their individual needs. For example, they identify gaps in children's experiences and purchase toys and materials that provide new opportunities for play and learning. Staff make excellent use of these resources to remove barriers. They encourage children to focus their attention by offering cause-and-effect toys, which help children with SEND to concentrate and achieve a clear outcome.

Leaders and staff continually review and adapt their approach. Staff working with children who have SEND or who face barriers to learning benefit from comprehensive training to ensure they can meet children's needs effectively. For example, staff supporting children at risk of delay in communication or physical development work alongside specialists who teach them strategies to help strengthen children's muscles over time. Staff embed this learning and apply these strategies consistently in daily routines. This has resulted in considerable progress for children with SEND. Leaders also maintain a clear oversight of children known to social care or who are disadvantaged. They work tirelessly to support all aspects of these children's progress and development. Families receive high levels of assistance, such as help with paperwork and regular discussions about their children's learning.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have a clear understanding of the setting's curriculum. Through observation, supervision and discussion, they ensure that the curriculum is typically delivered well and that key focus areas are implemented effectively. Leaders emphasise communication and independence as essential skills. This is demonstrated when staff promote older children's independence by supporting them to lay the table at lunchtime and to self-serve their meals. However, leaders recognise some variations in how staff implement the intended curriculum across different rooms. This results in inconsistent learning experiences for some children. For instance, some staff do not consistently follow children's interests, such as babies who enjoy physical activities. Despite this, children elsewhere have ample opportunities to develop their physical skills in the well-designed outdoor areas. Leaders take an inclusive approach to ensure they can successfully support children of different ages and abilities and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Overall, the curriculum is fair, accessible and taught well by most staff. Children experience a wide range of opportunities to develop their communication and language skills. For example, staff working with babies sing songs, read stories and chat with them as they pop bubbles together. Older children learn the names of dinosaurs and discuss their characteristics. Staff skilfully follow children's interests to explore imaginative scenarios, such as an erupting volcano. However, some less-confident staff do not always support children's play and learning as effectively and may lack the skills to extend children's thoughts and ideas. This means that, at times, some children do not learn beyond what they already know and can do.

Achievement: Expected standard

Typically, all children achieve well from their varying starting points. Gaps in learning, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning, close over time. Children develop the key skills they need for starting school. Older children grow in confidence as they build their physical skills, such as balancing and swinging, which strengthens their core muscles. They also have many opportunities to develop hand strength and hand-eye coordination through activities such as drawing, scooping, feeding themselves and manipulating play dough.

Babies show strong motivation to listen to stories. They sit with staff for extended periods, learning how to turn the pages of a book. They join in with action songs and move their bodies to the rhythm. Babies hear new words as they engage in back-and-forth exchanges with staff. Toddlers show a keen interest in exploring sand, enjoying digging and filling buckets. Older children delight in cutting their own fruit and talking about how they can cut it in 'half' or make it 'smaller'. Children approach new experiences with positive attitudes. However, at times, some children's ideas are not extended, meaning they do not always learn beyond what they already know.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Warm, positive relationships are fostered through the thoughtful matching of key workers' strengths to the individual needs of children. This approach results in positive, secure bonds with staff who know and understand the children in their care exceptionally well, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those who may face barriers to learning. Consequently, children feel safe, comforted and emotionally secure, enabling them to develop confidence.

Routines are fully embedded across the setting, including during transitions and mealtimes. These routines are carefully designed to promote children's independence. For example, toddlers know when it is time to sleep and confidently find their own sleep space, removing their shoes and clothing with ease. They also sit together during group time and happily wait their turn to recognise their name and walk over to register it on the board. Children are calm, settled and ready to participate in the day's activities.

Staff provide a wealth of opportunities for children to work collaboratively, demonstrate kindness and practise turn-taking. For instance, in the sandpit, staff gently encourage children to take turns as they work together to collect water in buckets to wet the sand. Children consistently show high levels of respect, cooperation and patience, which staff notice and warmly commend.

Leaders promote regular attendance and punctuality, working in partnership with families who require support and offering flexibility, such as adapting session times to suit individual children's needs. This ensures that all children can benefit fully from the setting's routines and learning experiences.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Children's personal, social and emotional development is of the utmost importance to leaders and staff. They prioritise children's wellbeing and sense of belonging, which is reflected in children's confidence to share their ideas and talk about themselves. This includes 2-year-olds, who follow well-established routines and settle extremely well. Staff build nurturing relationships with children, helping them to thrive. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning form particularly endearing relationships with their key person. They have the confidence to engage in play and regularly return to their key person for reassurance. Children are curious learners and well prepared for transitions between rooms and for their eventual start at school.

Secure bonds and attachments between staff and children, from babies through to pre-school, are clearly evident. Children implicitly trust staff and seek them out when they need support. Staff remain responsive to children's individual needs and to changing family circumstances. For example, staff sensitively play alongside less-confident children, narrating their actions to encourage interaction.

Well-structured routines support children's self-care skills and help them develop healthy habits. Mealtimes are sociable occasions where children sit with staff and chat about their day. Staff promote healthy choices, and children respond positively. For instance, children eagerly remind staff to add their names to the 'clean plate club' list when they finish their meal. This motivates them to try new foods and supports the development of healthy eating habits.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Overall, leaders support staff to develop their knowledge and skills through training opportunities and team meetings. For example, staff report that recent training on babies' brain development has helped them to better understand and respond to babies' needs. Staff are familiar with the curriculum and clear about what they want children to achieve. However, some staff's professional development is not targeted well enough. As a result, some areas of the nursery have less-experienced staff than others, which impacts the consistency and quality of curriculum delivery.

Leaders work confidently in partnership with parents, carers and other professionals. Staff communicate with families through daily discussions and an online platform. Parents spoken to during the inspection report positive communication with staff and say their children are settled and happy. Leaders ensure that they gather appropriate information so that ongoing communication about children's learning and progress leads to targeted plans and timely intervention when needed. This includes additional support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff also say they feel well supported regarding their wellbeing and workload through regular supervision sessions.