Westmill Nursery

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders and practitioners ensure that their practices are inclusive. They gather a wealth of information from parents and carers when their children start, which means that children's needs are swiftly identified. Leaders and practitioners expertly evaluate their strategies, which enables them to appropriately and seamlessly adapt to meet children's changing needs and reduce barriers to learning promptly. For example, when families grow, young children can sometimes take time to adjust to the changes. Leaders take prompt action to ensure that children feel safe, secure and continue to make progress. As a result, all children benefit from the opportunities and experiences at the setting.

Leaders and practitioners have excellent knowledge of all children they care for and have embedded inclusive practices that support all children's learning and development. For example, they consistently supplement spoken language with signing to support children's language acquisition and development of communication skills. All practitioners know how to engage positively with children and support them in their development. Leaders work tirelessly to ensure that children quickly receive the precise help they need from external professionals. This includes helping to secure additional funding and specialist intervention at the earliest opportunity.

Practitioners rigorously monitor and tailor their support so that they consistently support children's development and progress to the next state of their learning. Leaders and practitioners actively include parents to ensure that aspirations for children are realised. As a result, children at the setting, including those who may be disadvantaged, known to children's social care and/or children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, integrate seamlessly at the setting and thrive alongside their peers.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders have created a broad, inclusive and well-planned curriculum, which practitioners implement to a consistently high standard. Leaders ensure that the curriculum is designed around children's interests, needs and seasonal themes, and as a result, children's levels of engagement are high and sustained for extended periods. Children have a wealth of opportunities to learn through varied activities that they enjoy. They access imaginative, open-ended resources that enable them to develop their confidence and become increasingly curious and independent learners. All practitioners consistently and accurately monitor what children know and can do, and this means that they can seamlessly extend children's learning and provide challenge when appropriate. For example, when children can accurately identify single-digit numbers during carpet time, practitioners promptly assess if they can use their mathematical knowledge to name a two-digit number. Leaders promote the very best teaching strategies to support and extend children's learning. They are committed to achieving their priorities for development.

Support for children's communication is fantastic. Leaders and practitioners have embedded purposeful communication methods for the youngest children who might, at times, be shy to communicate verbally. They recognise the importance of language skills for children's learning, thinking and emotional wellbeing. As a result, all children successfully communicate their needs. Practitioners respond instinctively to children's curiosity, expertly adapting their discussions so that children can learn from every interaction with practitioners at the setting. When engaging in conversation, they ensure that they are at the child's level and follow the child's lead. They make comments but do not ask too many questions. Language-rich interactions support children's learning, and as a result, children gain confidence in expressing themselves, increase their vocabulary and participate fully in play.

Highly experienced practitioners know children's needs very well. They expertly anticipate and initiate opportunities for children to develop important skills in ways that are appropriate to their individual needs. This means that children are effectively supported and always benefit from opportunities for learning and development. Leaders' support for children's communication is fantastic. For example, practitioners use opportunities to talk to children about keeping themselves hydrated in the extremely hot weather. Practitioners' language-rich interactions support children's learning. They talk to the children about fruits that are cool and refreshing to eat during the summer heat, and as a result, children relate their learning to their own experiences.

Achievement: Strong standard

Children achieve highly at this setting, and they are extremely well prepared for moving on to school and their future learning. They respond positively to the routines and benefit from a highly focused and very well taught curriculum.

Children concentrate well as they listen to stories or to their friends. They make rapid progress in their communication and language. By the time children leave to go to school, they can take part in often complex back-and-forth conversations and are extremely confident communicators. Children achieve well across all areas of the curriculum.

Throughout their day, children have consistent opportunities to practise their independence, build resilience and strengthen their communication and language skills. They consistently encourage active and stimulating conversations that are rich in vocabulary. In addition, Makaton signing is securely embedded in practice and used during conversations with children. The children demonstrate their understanding by imitating the signs that they know. They become very confident communicators using a range of effective methods.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

A harmonious and respectful culture is instinctively displayed throughout the setting by practitioners and children alike. This contributes to a calm atmosphere indoors and outdoors. It is clear that leaders and practitioners have established consistent expectations for behaviour and model inspiring levels of kindness and respect. As a result, children are impeccably behaved.

Practitioners greet children warmly, helping them separate confidently and settle quickly into purposeful play. Routines are well established and expectations have been successfully embedded. This means that children know what to expect at the setting. They behave appropriately towards all practitioners and all peers and they develop appropriate levels of self-confidence.

Warm and trusting relationships quickly develop between practitioners and children. Practitioners role model positive behaviours and kindness for children constantly in all areas of the setting. For instance, they promote collaborative play to children who face barriers to their learning. Practitioners' perseverance and determination result in children becoming highly sociable, kind and helpful individuals. All children are responsive and ready for learning opportunities.

Leaders prioritise attendance. They recognise the impact that this has on children's learning. They prioritise the welfare of children, and therefore take prompt steps to query rare instances of non-attendance and encourage punctuality. As a result, there are high levels of attendance at the setting, and positive routines around this are well established.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders and practitioners are highly responsive to the circumstances and individual needs of children and families. They particularly focus on those children who face barriers to their learning or with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff have implemented routines that motivate children to develop healthy habits, self-care and emotional wellbeing.

Practitioners teach children to keep themselves safe. Children recognise the effect that the extremely hot weather has on their bodies and know that drinking water regularly will help them to stay hydrated, supporting their understanding of physical development.

The key-person system is highly effective, and children form strong bonds with practitioners. Children become highly familiar with the routine. Children with SEND feel safe and secure, separating from their parents and carers as they arrive and finding toys that help them to regulate their feelings independently, should they need this support. This is thanks to a responsive and established settling-in process that provides consistent routines and familiarity for children. Staff respond instantly to support changes to children's routines, prioritising their welfare.

Staff have a robust knowledge of the children in their care and support them to express their feelings effectively. For example, through explicit teaching, all children learn the skills and vocabulary needed to explain why they may feel sad. Staff are highly skilled in allowing children the time and space they need to regulate their emotions. They are calm, responsive and subtle in their interactions when supporting children to enable them to develop a secure sense of emotional wellbeing.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders and practitioners are confident in their roles and responsibilities. They are attentive to opportunities for practitioners' development and have excellent links with their local authority. Practitioners are responsive to the training opportunities that are available. As a result, children at the setting benefit from high-quality teaching and learning experiences created by practitioners. Where improvement to practice might be identified, based on monitoring of local trends, leaders' consideration and action are timely. Practitioners consistently and effectively share their knowledge, good practice and learning every day. Leaders actively monitor practitioners' workload so that paperwork does not become an unnecessary burden. Continuous discussions and reflection between practitioners and leaders result in the best possible experiences for children. For example, leaders prioritise in the moment observations of children that can be efficiently recorded. This means that practitioners do not use valuable time, which could be spent teaching children, focused on administration tasks.

Leaders effectively identify, document and monitor concerns appropriately and escalate them within the professional parameters that are appropriate. Leaders seek support from professionals to support children's needs. They actively trial strategies to support children at the setting and continually engage with families to support children's development and improve outcomes. This means that children benefit from tailored support without unnecessary delay.

Leaders have excellent communication with all parents. They ensure parents feel confident in the care children receive. Parents are overwhelmingly complimentary about leaders' care for children and relate that they have the children's welfare and interest at the heart of everything that they do. Families know their children are in safe, trusted hands and feel completely at home at this setting. As a result of leaders' commitment, all children thrive in all aspects of their development and are exceptionally well prepared for learning and times of transition.