Alanbrooke Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and independent learners. They exhibit good concentration as they engage in their play. For example, children enjoy counting and identifying colours as they play with peg boards. They skilfully use their thinking skills to answer questions during activities. For example, children recall information about previous days out.

Staff plan the curriculum effectively to enable children to acquire important skills as they progress through the various stages of their development. They organise the environment to enable children to make independent choices about their play. Younger children explore sensory resources, and older children participate in activities to find out information about the world. Staff support children to search for different countries on the internet and cook food from around the world. Children learn essential skills that prepare them well for the next stage in their learning and eventual move on to school.

Children grow in independence, and staff encourage them to manage their own care needs. They help to tidy up and learn to put on their own coats and shoes for outdoor play. Children know the routines of the day and develop good hygiene practices, such as they wash their hands before snack and after using the toilet. Older children show care and consideration to their peers by offering support when they see it is needed. Staff are good role models. They are kind and thoughtful as they talk and interact with children. Staff encourage children to share, take turns and listen to their instructions. Children's behaviour is good.

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

• Staff support children's speech and language development effectively. They engage children in regular conversation throughout the day to extend and build on their communication skills. Staff introduce new words such as 'stomp' as children play with dinosaurs. They speak clearly and uses repetition of language to help children to say words correctly.
• Staff complete regular assessments of children's learning. This helps them to swiftly identify gaps in development and to seek professional help to enable children to catch up quickly. However, staff do not fully liaise with other settings where care is shared to discuss learning priorities. This does not fully promote consistency in children's learning.
• Books feature well within daily routines. Staff read stories to children, who listen attentively. Parents are encouraged to support children's literacy skills at home by taking part in a book lending scheme.
• Staff know their key children well. They confidently talk about their capabilities and plan a wide range of age-appropriate activities to support and prepare them for their next stage in learning. For example, older children learn mathematical skills as they search for 'longer' resources around the room. Overall, children make good progress. However, on occasion, at times, staff do not plan activities effectively to enable children, particularly younger children, to fully benefit from the intended learning opportunities.
• Children learn about the wider world and their local community. For example, they learn about several cultural and religious festivals throughout the year. Children go on regular walks around the nursery and take part in charity coffee mornings. They observe army parades and learn about Remembrance Day.
• Children develop good physical skills. For instance, they take part in yoga sessions and thoroughly enjoy climbing and exploring the outdoor play areas. Children develop their fine motor skills to help them to build their muscles in preparation for early writing. They manipulate sand with their hands and make sandcastles.
• The manager and the staff work together to evaluate their practice and identify areas for development. They hold regular meetings and actively encourage parents to share their views, such as through discussions. Staff have recently made positive changes to the pre-school room, and they are in the process of developing other rooms in the nursery.
• Parents and carers praise staff highly. They describe them as friendly and helpful and comment that they are like family. Staff keep parents well informed of their children's day and progress daily. However, staff are not proactive in gaining vital information from parents when children first start about what children already know and can do to enable them to build on their skills from the start.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen partnerships with other settings where care is shared to exchange important information to ensure consistency in children's learning and development
• plan activities more precisely to ensure that all children, in particular younger children, fully engage and benefit from the learning opportunities
• develop the process for gathering information from parents about their children's starting points in development to use as a foundation for children's learning.