Aug 17, 2026 · 11 min · 10 segments
What does "exceptional" really look like in an early years setting, and what are inspectors actually seeing when they use words like *remarkable, thriving, inspirational,* and *exceptional*? It's…
So what is this week's podcast all about? So this one is we're going to, I've not done this one before.
So this one, and so I've done some, a little bit of investigating is what does exceptional really look like? So what we're looking for is we're looking beyond outstanding practice to exceptional impact.
Now, one of the things I want to say to you is if you ever read an inspection report and thought, How on earth did they get that written about them? You know the type of a report.
You know, these are the ones where children are described as remarkably curious or making rapid and sustained progress or thinking deeply or another good one, showing exceptional resilience.
And if you're sitting there wondering, what are they actually doing that you're not? Well, actually, here's the truth.
So today in this podcast, I want to unpick exactly what inspectors are seeing when they use the words like exceptional, because once you understand it, you realise it's completely achievable.
And one thing that jumps out from these reports is that inspectors hardly talk about Instead, they describe children listening to the language, children proudly explain, children confidently solve problems, children persevere, children research, children debate, children collaborate, children lead.
Notice something in that? The inspection isn't praising adults, it's describing what children have become and that's because inspectors don't inspect the activities, they inspect the impact those activities have had.
Now, an average inspection says the children painted, an exceptional inspection says the children used their previous experiences to independently design, test and evaluate.
So what is this week's podcast all about? So this one is we're going to, I've not done this one before.
So this one, and so I've done some, a little bit of investigating is what does exceptional really look like? So what we're looking for is we're looking beyond outstanding practice to exceptional impact.
Now, one of the things I want to say to you is if you ever read an inspection report and thought, How on earth did they get that written about them? You know the type of a report.
You know, these are the ones where children are described as remarkably curious or making rapid and sustained progress or thinking deeply or another good one, showing exceptional resilience.
And if you're sitting there wondering, what are they actually doing that you're not? Well, actually, here's the truth.
So today in this podcast, I want to unpick exactly what inspectors are seeing when they use the words like exceptional, because once you understand it, you realise it's completely achievable.
And one thing that jumps out from these reports is that inspectors hardly talk about Instead, they describe children listening to the language, children proudly explain, children confidently solve problems, children persevere, children research, children debate, children collaborate, children lead.
Notice something in that? The inspection isn't praising adults, it's describing what children have become and that's because inspectors don't inspect the activities, they inspect the impact those activities have had.
Now, an average inspection says the children painted, an exceptional inspection says the children used their previous experiences to independently design, test and evaluate.
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