Agar Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted with a warm welcome from staff who are kind and nurturing. Children are happy and safe as they play and share their experiences with their friends and staff. Staff have high expectations for every child and explain expectations during routines and play. As a result, children behave well and have a good attitude to learning. Children build their physical skills well and access a wide range of resources that develop their imagination. Children roll car tyres and squeal in delight as they manoeuvre the tyres across the playground. They build with crates and use their imaginations well to create a story during play.

There is a strong emphasis on developing communication and language within the curriculum. Staff talk to children in the sandpit, which has weighing scales. Staff support children to compare 'light' and 'heavy'. Children confidently ask, 'Shall we see what happens?' when adding more sand to the scales. Staff are building the skills for children to be confident communicators, including children who speak English as an additional language.

The manager and leaders have high expectations for every child, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The curriculum is ambitious to ensure every child reaches their full potential.

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

• Leaders ensure children have access to a wide curriculum offering exciting learning opportunities both indoors and outdoors. Children's developmental starting points are established through home visits, discussions with parents and observations. Through understanding children's interests and needs, the staff ensure children's learning is effectively planned for and that it is well sequenced.
• The manager carries out regular supervision with her staff. She discusses the staff's key children, training needs and well-being. In addition, leaders and staff meet regularly to plan the next steps for children and undertake training. This supports their continual professional development and helps to maintain standards in teaching.
• Children with SEND are well supported in the nursery. The setting works closely with families and a range of health professionals to ensure interventions are in place to support individual needs. The nursery special educational needs coordinator oversees practice to ensure 'assess, plan, do, review' processes are effective, so each child thrives.
• Staff build strong attachments with their key children and teach them how to be independent and confident. Young children brush their teeth before lunchtime, learning the importance of good oral health. Children are prompted to wash hands before mealtimes and learn to use cutlery to feed themselves. Staff are positive role models and teach children to be kind and respectful to one another. This prepares children to be good citizens.
• Children who speak English as an additional language are well supported. Children learn quickly through daily singing and the sharing of books. Staff support families to share key words in their first language, so that children have a sense of belonging in the nursery. As a result, children quickly make progress in their language skills.
• Children enjoy healthy snacks and freshly prepared nutritious meals. Dietary needs are taken into consideration. Staff use the opportunity at the table to have conversations with children. Children confidently recall what activities they have done earlier or share home experiences. Children can eat what they grow from the nursery garden. They excitedly check the garden in the morning to see what vegetables have ripened, and are ready to be prepared, shared and eaten.
• Leaders build strong parental partnerships. Parents speak highly of the nursery and the staff. Parents say they appreciate the regular communication, so they know what their children are learning. They appreciate the support they receive so that their children make good progress in their development. They say how happy their children are to come to nursery each day.
• Children access a range of adult-led and child-initiated activities. For example, children paint pictures of their family members and happily share their artwork with staff. Young children approach paint and create some lines and shapes. However, sometimes young children lose focus quickly, seeming unsure what to engage in.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• further strengthen reflective practice to identify what improvements would have the greatest impact on children's involvement and concentration in all rooms
• strengthen the systems in place for the monitoring and development of staff practice so that it is of a consistently high quality.