Agility Tots

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery has recently undergone significant changes in its leadership and has a new staff team. Despite this, they are now established and have an ambitious curriculum and a clear vision of what they would like children to learn. For example, they have had discussions with all families who attend and have a thorough understanding of children's current stages of development. This helps them to plan activities that meet children's individual needs and are based on their interests. Children show they feel happy and safe in the nursery. They run in happily and show excitement to be in nursery. Staff are aware of how to build secure foundations for future learning and focus their teaching on developing children's communication and language skills.

The nursery opened after the pandemic, and although staff have seen minimal impact on children's development, they have worked hard to help families feel safe and secure in the setting. Children benefit from flexible settling-in sessions and staff get to know them well before they start. Staff ensure that parent partnerships are good and regularly share information with them about children's learning and care routines. This helps to promote continuity for children. Parents were keen to leave feedback for the inspection. They say the staff team know their children well and keep them well informed of their day. Parents have noticed a positive change in their children's development, particularly in their social skills and communication.

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

• Children have formed secure and trusting relationships with staff. They show developing levels of self-confidence and high levels of self-esteem. Children regularly seek reassurance from staff and benefit from kind, nurturing responses. Staff know them well and provide comfort items if they need them to settle. This has a positive impact on children's emotional well-being, and they demonstrate that they feel secure in the nursery.
• Children have fun in the nursery. Staff prepare activities that they know children will enjoy. For instance, children develop their hand-eye coordination as they use small rods to catch fish. They spend time making marks in the sand tray with their farm vehicles and develop their mathematical awareness as they empty and fill containers using pipettes. Staff purposefully use mathematical language throughout children's play.
• The staff team has a shared vision of the curriculum for children. The focus is on helping them to prepare for the next stages in their learning, including their eventual move to school. Children demonstrate resilience and begin to show an understanding of boundaries. Staff have high expectations for them and work hard to maintain children's enthusiasm in their learning. However, some children are easily distracted and regularly lose focus and concentration.
• Staff promote children's growing levels of independence effectively throughout the day. For example, children begin to use the toilet and wash their hands. They enjoy buttering their own crumpets at snack time and are encouraged to use the cutlery at lunchtime. Staff follow children's lead and teach them through their play. Children are encouraged to make choices about where they would like to learn. They have access to wide range of resources, which staff purposefully prepare each day.
• Staff promote children's good health. Children are encouraged to take part in physical play each day and have access to fresh drinking water. Staff focus on developing children's awareness of the importance of oral hygiene and talk to children at lunchtime about why we need to make healthy food choices. Staff regularly take children on walks out of the setting. However, they have not yet linked this to their curriculum to help children learn about the wider world and other cultures.
• Children begin to develop their communication and language skills as staff focus their teaching on this part of the curriculum. For example, they enjoy stories and singing each day, and they show excitement as they choose an item from the song box. Children sing out loud to the group and show pride in their achievements. Staff model language consistently and provide a narrative as children play. Children begin to use sentences and develop the skills they need to communicate their needs and preferences.
• The curriculum to develop children's personal, social and emotional skills is strong. Staff support children extremely well when they struggle with their feelings and use calm voices to settle them down. This helps children to resolve issues quickly and they learn to manage conflict. Staff are very good role models. They provide consistent boundaries and model good manners. Children sit together with staff at lunchtime and demonstrate very positive behaviour.
• The provider demonstrates dedication and commitment to providing high standards of care and learning for children. Leaders support the new staff team and provide a thorough induction process. This helps staff to understand the expectations of the leaders' role.
• Partnerships are effective. Leaders and the staff team have established strong bonds with families and other professionals who work with children. Children with gaps in their learning benefit from support in the nursery, and staff work alongside other professionals to promote continuity while they wait for further assessments.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider different ways to help children focus and concentrate for longer periods so they can deeply engage in their learning
• enhance ways to extend children's understanding of other people, places and cultures in the wider world