Summer arrived, then quickly disappeared again! Children made the most of the warm weather and played for sustained periods of time in the garden: developing an understanding of caring for plants, climbing and cycling, reading and relaxing and playing imaginatively. 
What was most noticeable was the independence of our children and their ability to solve problems without asking for help. Our Rachel Keeling Values support children to use their voices and make choices about their learning and this was evident across the nursery all week. As we move into the final term here for some of our children, we see resilient and empathetic young people who will make smooth transitions to their primary schools very soon, ready for the next step in their learning journeys. 

The summer term is really the term where we reap the benefits of the expertise, sensitivity and skills of our team and families here at Rachel Keeling: our children are independent, communicative, resilient, empathetic, leaders in their learning. 
We were delighted to welcome Ofsted Inspector Helen Morrison to Rachel Keeling at the end of spring term to share the experiences our children have. She spent a day here talking to the leadership team, staff, children, observing staff and children and listening to families' views. Helen spent time in the nursery, engaged in deep professional dialogue and interrogated data and learning journeys. Our website proved to be a wonderful record of the sustained learning our children engage in. It serves as our window on the world - where visitors can get a taste of our ethos, strengths and areas we are developing.
We were delighted with another 'outstanding' judgement but the impetus to continue striving and keeping a forward momentum is the children. We make sure they have unique provision every day - no two children experience the same each day, the processes they are involved in, their choices and learning differs greatly, but we ensure all children have a day which is consistent in the high quality experiences they access. 
Please sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy reading our Ofsted letter  in the 'Our School' tab under 'Ofsted'!