🌟 How far we are from Exceptional
As of 11 October 2026
Our behind-the-scenes systems are roughly two-thirds of what an Exceptional setting needs, but the grade itself can’t be measured yet: Exceptional is judged on impact and consistency we can evidence, and most of our tools are days old. The first Level 3 audits will turn this estimate into a fact.
Where we stand
Safeguarding and staff development are our strongest areas. Achievement evidence is in Ovivio; the job is to show the impact it records.
| Ofsted area | What the Hub gives us | What’s missing | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safeguarding Met / Not met | Concern forms with routing; staff-involved concerns to directors only; low-level concerns; the Safeguarding Acknowledgement signed digitally; visitors on the fire list | Disclosure guidance missing from the policy; no lockdown signal; fire marshals not named; deputy DSLs not assigned to sites | Fill the policy gaps; name the deputy DSLs |
| Leadership and governance Systems strong, unproven | QA audits L1–L3, actions tracker, supervision every two months with a dashboard, handover log, the outstanding list | Policy blanks in 67 places across 32 policies; approvals waiting; no baseline audit yet | Run an L3 audit at each nursery; clear the blanks |
| Curriculum and teaching Rich, impact unknown | 888 activities, EYFS moments, planning, Look out for today, a course for every activity, the JLK Voice | No measure yet of whether teaching on the floor matches the courses | Peer observations and L1 spot checks each month |
| Achievement Evidence in Ovivio | Observation form (written here, then entered in Ovivio), EYFS moments, the two-year check course | The evidence exists in Ovivio; the Hub can’t see it, so leaders can’t spot gaps across children, rooms or nurseries from here | Use Ovivio’s progress tracking at each L3 audit; ask whether it can export, to switch on the observation-gaps tool |
| Inclusion Good systems | SEND concerns, support plans with termly reviews, the SENCo role, EAL and SEND courses | SENCo flags not set on the registry | Set the SENCo flags |
| Behaviour, attitudes and routines Recording in place | Behaviour records and log, the JLK Voice, co-regulation and behaviour courses | No trend view across sites yet | Review the behaviour log at each supervision |
| Children’s welfare and wellbeing Strong daily systems | Sleep log with timed checks, accidents, daily checks, handover with Today so far, the offline tablet | Children have no room on record; ratios not confirmed in writing | Add a room to each child; confirm ratios |
What Exceptional asks for
Exceptional requires the Strong standard to be met in that area, and then all of the following.
Leaders have a transformational impact on children’s individual experiences because of their meticulous approach.
Children receive commendable levels of individualised support and guidance, irrespective of barriers.
Parents are unanimously positive.
There are no significant areas for improvement that leaders have not already prioritised. Ofsted toolkit, page 16, as quoted in our Ofsted Readiness course
If awarded, the setting is expected to share learning externally. Our aim is Exceptional in all six graded areas and Met for safeguarding; Strong standard is the floor.
The gaps behind the scenes
The biggest gap is showing impact from the evidence we already hold; the most visible is policy wording an inspector can read.
- Showing impact, not just recording it. Our observations are in Ovivio, so the evidence exists. Exceptional needs it pulled together: each child’s progress over time, and what we did that changed it. That means using Ovivio’s tracking at every audit, and, if it can export, letting the Hub flag gaps across rooms and nurseries.
- Policy gaps. Template blanks in 67 places, no lockdown signal, no named fire marshal, and the Arrivals & Departures and Separated Family policies contradict each other on collection. An unfilled “[insert name]” is a weakness leaders haven’t fixed, which rules out Exceptional.
- No baseline audit. No full Level 3 audit has been run at any nursery, so we don’t know where each area stands today.
- Parent voice isn’t measured. “Unanimously positive” needs a regular survey we can show, not occasional feedback.
- Adoption. The training day hasn’t run, the job descriptions aren’t in, the new courses are version 0.1, and the practice-task backlog stood at 84 overdue tasks when last counted.
- Data gaps. Children have no room recorded, ratios aren’t confirmed, deputy DSLs and SENCo flags aren’t assigned.
Next steps
In this order; the first turns “how far are we” from an estimate into a fact.
- Run a Level 3 QA audit at Croydon, Lewisham and Bromley in the next fortnight.
- Clear the policy blanks and approvals, starting with the lockdown signal, fire marshals and the collection contradiction.
- Run the Staff Hub training day, then add the job descriptions to the Career pathway.
- Start a short termly parent survey and track the results on the Hub.
- Use Ovivio’s progress tracking in each audit, and ask Ovivio whether it can export, so the observation-gaps tool can be switched on.
What the Hub can’t measure
Most of the judgement is practice on the floor: the warmth of interactions, teaching in the moment, and whether staff do what the courses say. The Hub makes good practice easier and more consistent across three nurseries, but it can’t create it; Level 1 spot checks, peer observations and supervision are how we see it.