Abinger Common Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children walk in happily, warmly greeted at the nursery door by friendly staff. They form strong bonds with staff, which helps them feel safe and comfortable. Children follow the established routines well. They put away their belongings, find their name cards and settle down quickly. This shows how well children develop their self-care skills in preparation for their eventual move to school.

A varied and ambitious curriculum is in place, which supports all children's good progress from their starting points. Staff create an appealing learning environment indoors and outdoors, with activities that reflect children's interests, needs and abilities. They place a significant focus on children's outdoor play and provide ample opportunities to develop their physical and emotional well-being. Staff enhance children's capabilities to be respectful and kind to all. For example, children who are proficient at manoeuvring wheeled toys, are encouraged to help their friends who may need further support. This contributes to creating a positive atmosphere and children feeling more assertive and self-assured.

Children's behaviour is good. Leaders and staff understand children's personal traits and learning styles well. They implement suitable strategies for children who may need additional support to focus, and be ready for their busy day ahead. For example, some children require time to be more active before they can sit in a large group for circle time. This approach is proving highly successful, as children become active listeners and respond better.

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

• The nursery is at the heart of the community. Staff utilise multiple opportunities for children to be involved in the local events. For example, the nursery entered the local village's marmalade making competition and won. In addition, children participate in planting fruit and vegetables for local businesses. These provide unforgettable opportunities for children to learn about the best conditions for growth, as well as harvesting and tasting these foods themselves. This helps to raise children's awareness of being a special part of supporting the community.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and others in receipt of additional funding are supported well. Leaders spend this funding thoughtfully to provide appropriate outdoor wear, meals and resources that these children require. Staff work closely with external professionals, such as the local authority's SEND advisers and speech and language therapists, to ensure children have appropriate, targeted support to narrow any emerging gaps.
• Overall, staff impact positively on children's learning and development through their quality interactions. For instance, staff build on children's fascination of bird spotting. They play alongside them, using binoculars to find different birds.
• Children know that robins are frequent visitors to the setting and proudly tell visitors which trees they often sit on. However, staff do not always notice that some children are ready to be taken to their next level during their spontaneous play. These children frequently move from one activity to another, showing little engagement. Consequently, some children do not progress as well as possible.
• Staff demonstrate a clear focus on helping children acquire important skills to enable them to complete tasks for themselves. Children learn to make choices, such as deciding whether to play indoors or outdoors. They try hard to put on their weatherproof suits before going in the garden. Staff expertly get children's attention through singing a command that children respond to, showing they are ready to move onto the next routine. Children follow instructions and take pride in washing their own hands at the outdoor hygiene station. These types of activities help children become autonomous learners.
• Leaders proactively evaluate the provision on offer. They do this in a variety of ways, such as observing staff's teaching and carrying out audits on different aspects. One of the priorities identified, is to increase children's communication and language. As part of this, leaders organise sessions run by external drama experts to develop children's storytelling skills. In addition, some staff have completed specific training to support this area of learning. However, leaders do not coach and monitor staff's practice robustly enough to ensure their teaching skills fully maximise children's learning at every opportunity.
• Partnership working with parents is a key strength. Parents compliment how staff prioritise care for their children, stating 'staff's dedication shines through in every aspect of the nursery'. Parents are impressed with the variety of exciting activities their children enjoy, such as weekly cookery sessions and French classes. They feel well-supported by leaders and staff, who share strategies and ideas with them to continue their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure all staff have a clear overview of children as they play independently, in order to intervene in a timely manner to expand learning and help them focus more
• implement further opportunities for coaching and monitoring of individual staff's teaching skills, to improve their knowledge of how to consistently maximise children's learning experiences.