Abacus Nursery (SW) LTD

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Knowledgeable and caring staff know the children well and plan a wide range of experiences that spark children's interests. For example, children are keen and eager to make play dough. They recall what ingredients they need and listen attentively to instructions. Children are excellent at responding to posed questions and ask their own to clarify understanding. Meaningful interactions encourage children to predict what might happen next and embed new vocabulary.

Children benefit greatly from the stimulating playspace, which provides an abundant range of enticing and carefully considered resources. Children are actively engaged in well-chosen activities. For example, they show great curiosity as they try to 'rescue the animals from the ice'. Staff interact precisely, helping children investigate with a wide range of tools. Children persevere well. They respond effectively to staff's open-ended questioning, to predict and test their ideas.

Staff understand the benefit of children being physically active. Older children excitedly participate in focused sport activities and become deeply engaged. They listen well and understand the need to walk to the spots on the ground, as the surface is slippery from the rain. Children move confidently, such as balancing rings on outstretched arms. Babies and young toddlers love being a part of 'music bugs' with their older friends. They sway in time to the music and enjoy exploring the range of musical instruments.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• The curriculum is exceptionally well designed to build on children's knowledge and to encourage them to practise their skills. Passionate staff understand the curriculum focus and what children need to learn. They implement this extremely well. Consequently, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an additional language, make excellent progress from their starting points.
• Children thrive in a highly nurturing environment. They build strong attachments with their key person, even when they have only attended for a few sessions. When unfamiliar visitors enter the room, new babies seek comfort from their familiar adult, who gives them cuddles and reassurance. The management team has carefully considered the use of the 'snug', which parents comment favourably upon. It provides children with a safe space to be calm and to reflect, and for staff to help children build confidence and support their social skills successfully.
• There is excellent support for those children with SEND and any additional needs. The knowledgeable special educational needs coordinator works closely with parents and other professionals to develop precise support plans to help reduce any gaps in learning. Staff sensitively assess children's individual needs and use any additional funding successfully to raise the quality of children's experiences.
• Staff support babies' and young toddlers' communication and language skills successfully. They are excellent at using daily routines, such as dressing for outdoor play, to promote language. They consistently use children's names, waiting for a response. Staff use a sing-song voice, making up rhymes as they count buttons on children's coats, and provide a narrative as they descend the stairs. Staff provide constant commentary, are extremely responsive and use all opportunities to build children's language throughout the nursery. In particular, this supports those children who are learning English as an additional language highly successfully.
• Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff role model manners and polite behaviour consistently, which children copy. This means children learn to be respectful and kind towards each other. For example, pre-school children spontaneously thank their friend for sharing their alphabet box at group time.
• There are excellent arrangements to ensure children quickly settle into nursery life. Staff gather essential information from parents, including family photographs. Staff ensure that children's care needs are fully understood and met, which parents say they greatly appreciate. Younger babies are cuddled close as they feed and are comforted as they fall to sleep. Staff sensitively support children as they move into the pre-school room, ensuring they are familiar with adults and the environment.
• The inspirational management team is passionate about ensuring staff are well supported and happy in their roles. There is a clear plan for professional development and to empower staff to take responsibility for their key roles. The management team encourages them to develop the curriculum and environments to better support children's learning. There is a firm focus on maintaining the outstanding provision for children, especially to provide more language-rich experiences to support secure foundations for children's future learning in an effective manner.