Acorn Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are extremely happy in this nurturing, inclusive environment. Staff work as a team to carefully plan sessions for children. They use daily observations to ensure activities meet the needs of all children, allowing them to become confident and independent learners. Targeted interventions are in place to support children's language and social and emotional development, ensuring all children make good progress.

The key-person system is highly effective, and children quickly form secure bonds with staff. Staff sing to children, follow their interests and work closely with parents. This helps children feel safe and secure. Parents receive daily communication from staff and feel fully involved in their children's learning. Parents know their children's targets and are given ideas as to how to help at home. Parents of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities feel particularly supported with the area of speech and language development.

Children behave well and approach activities with curiosity and excitement. For example, children were enthusiastic to go on a nature walk. They explored their natural environment, discussed the season and collected different-coloured leaves which they later used in a craft activity. This further develops their knowledge and understanding of the world and their skills in expressive arts and design.

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

• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They use visual timetables to ensure all children can follow nursery routines. When the bell rings, children know it is time to move to the next activity. Staff begin circle times by modelling the tapping of parts of their body. Children quickly want to join in, following the sequence and demonstrating they are listening. Children share with their friends what they have enjoyed at nursery that morning. This provides a lovely opportunity for further developing children's language skills.
• Staff enjoy sharing stories with children. Children join in with repeated phrases, lift flaps and make predictions about what will happen next. A small library at the front gate allows children to choose a book to take home to share with their parents or carers. This promotes children's language development and enjoyment of books. There are a range of photo books of the children celebrating a variety of religious festivals at nursery. Children enjoy looking at these and remembering the different festivals and traditions. This helps them to further embed their learning of diversity and respect for different people.
• Staff make purposeful interactions with children during activities, and they model language and extend children's vocabulary as they play. For example, as children push dolls in pushchairs, staff engage in conversations with children about caring for babies, discussing what they might want and need and joining in with the imaginative play.
• Opportunities for mark making are in all areas of the nursery. Children enjoy using paintbrushes and glue sticks to make collages from the leaves they have collected on their nature walk. This provides opportunities for fine and gross motor development and supports children's next steps in writing.
• There is a strong focus on being healthy and making healthy choices. Children grow vegetables in their vegetable patch, and they water and take care of them. They enjoy tasting, feeling and smelling the produce. This further develops children's understanding of healthy eating and where their food comes from. Children brush their teeth after lunch, promoting the importance of oral health.
• Children enjoy mealtimes and staff sit with children, making this a social experience. However, children are not given opportunities to further develop their independence and fine motor skills, such as being able to help themselves to drinks and peel and serve themselves fruits.
• Children enjoy participating in a range of group-time sessions. However, some staff need further support to ensure that the pace of these sessions is age appropriate, so that all children learn what the staff intend them to from the planned activity.
• The manager is hands-on and works directly with children and parents daily. She has high expectations of staff. She identifies where staff need support and takes appropriate action to address this by providing specific training opportunities. Staff are well mentored and have regular supervision meetings, allowing them to reflect on their practice. Staff enjoy working at this nursery as they are part of a fully supportive team.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• further promote the development of independence around mealtimes
• further support staff in planning activities with age-appropriate pace to ensure all children can access the learning.