Windsor House Nursery

Inclusion: Strong standard

Staff training to support all children's needs is highly effective. They identify any concerns about children's development promptly. Staff plan the curriculum carefully, focusing on closing any gaps that may exist in a child's development. Staff monitor the progress that children make extremely closely. This helps staff to tailor and adapt the curriculum as children make progress and to highlight any remaining concerns they may have. Staff fully include parents in planning for children's initial sessions. This helps to make sure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) settle in quickly and are given a head start as they begin at the nursery. As a result, some children's barriers to learning are reduced rapidly and they make fantastic progress quickly.

Leaders and staff share information about children with SEND and those who are vulnerable with any other professionals who are involved in the child's life. This helps important information about children's wellbeing and/or development to be shared effectively with other agencies. Leaders use additional funding extremely well to support children's development. They monitor the impact of this regularly and are fully committed to making sure that all children are included and thrive.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders have made dramatic improvements to the curriculum since the last inspection. All staff now focus extremely effectively on developing children's communication and language skills. Staff choose specific books to share with children, which help them to develop their understanding of language and enjoyment of reading. Story sessions are highly interactive. For example, children show delight as they use props and puppets to act out 'We're going on a Bear Hunt'. They are increasingly familiar with the vocabulary in the story and gain confidence in their language skills as they join in with shared reading of the book.

Staff are confident teachers of mathematics. They encourage children to count toys and puppets they are using during a singing session. When children incorrectly guess the answer to a question about counting, staff carefully show them strategies to support their understanding. As a result, children learn how to count accurately and demonstrate their new knowledge of this to staff.

Staff monitor children's progress carefully. They have an excellent understanding of what all children know and can do. Staff use this information skilfully to plan activities to match the next stage of children's development.

Achievement: Strong standard

Children are making excellent progress. Those who are learning English for the first time at the nursery are developing a rapid understanding of language. For example, some children who were not able to speak any English when they began at the nursery two months ago communicate confidently in full sentences, commenting that, 'mummy is coming to collect me soon.'

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are making significant progress in their development. For children with limited language skills, they are now beginning to communicate and demonstrate an understanding of language as they begin to put words together. For specific children with SEND, this is huge progress.

Children are extremely independent and show that they are already developing all the skills they will need for when the time comes to start school.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders have created a highly positive environment at the nursery in which children thrive. All children are supported by staff to behave extremely well. Staff praise children consistently for their positive behaviour. Children demonstrate an excellent understanding of how to play cooperatively with their friends, share and take-turns. For example, when children enjoy a singing activity, children delight in joining in with praising others for singing in front of the group and enjoy sharing the resources with their friends. This helps to establish extremely positive relationships between staff and children.

Leaders and staff have clear policies and procedures for responding if children do not attend. They contact children's parents if they are not aware of the reason for non-attendance and understand the need to contact other professionals if they are ever worried about a child's safety.

Children demonstrate very positive attitudes to learning. They play for extended periods of time and are encouraged to be critical thinkers as they become engrossed in activities. For example, babies delight as they are supported to explore sensory activities. Staff help babies to concentrate by adapting their teaching to children's needs and interests. This helps children to develop their attention skills highly effectively.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

The arrangements to support the relationship between staff, children and parents are highly effective. This helps staff to make sure that children's individual needs are met extremely well and that they understand children's routines at home. For example, staff meet with parents before a child starts with them to gain the knowledge they need about eating and sleeping arrangements. Staff adapt the routines of the setting to what best suits the individual children in their care.

Leaders have carefully considered how to promote children's good health. The nursery provides daily home-cooked meals that the children all enjoy. They talk to children about how they can keep themselves healthy. Staff use their language skills in Gujarati and English to name different fruits for babies and share how these help our bodies to grow.

Children are encouraged to talk about their emotions and feelings. Staff understand that those children who are at the early stages of learning English may find it hard to express themselves. They consider children's wellbeing carefully and provide visual cards to help children recognise their emotions. This is highly effective for all children to begin to use language to describe how they are feeling.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders have made remarkable progress since the last inspection. They have implemented a number of new initiatives that have supported the nursery to deliver high-quality provision for children. The action taken by leaders has been highly effective in a relatively short period of time and is making a dramatically positive impact on outcomes for children. Leaders recognise the need to continue to develop their practice and are fully committed to sustaining the improvements they have made.

Staff comment that they 'love working at the nursery'. They state that leaders are extremely supportive of them and provide a wealth of opportunities for professional development. Leaders place a strong emphasis on making sure that disadvantaged children and those who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are cared for well and have the support they need to make fantastic progress. Recent training for staff has focused on the specific needs of some children with SEND attending the nursery. This has helped staff to gain in confidence and increase their understanding of strategies they can use to support children's care and development.