Alcester Nursery Studio Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

On arrival at the nursery, children receive a warm welcome from familiar staff. Children happily go inside and settle quickly in to play with their peers. They build close relationships with staff who know them well. This helps children to feel safe and secure in their care. Children are keen to speak with staff and show their chosen toys and creations. Staff take time to listen and respond to children's thoughts and ideas. For example, pre-school children say they are building a house. Staff engage them in thinking and talking about what they will need to build the floor, the walls and then the roof.

Children are keen to engage in fun activities with staff or happily access resources of interest for themselves and lead their play and learning. Children show positive behaviours in the nursery. Staff support them to learn about their own emotions and the emotions of others. Children respond well to staff reminders to use kind hands and to take turns during games. Staff model positive behaviours and give timely praise when children show the behaviours that are expected of them. This helps children to know how to form and sustain friendships with their peers.

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

• When children first start, staff gather useful information from parents to understand some of their needs and play interests, which helps children to settle well at the nursery. That said, there is scope to gather more details about what children know and can do from the start to help staff make plans for each child's learning from the outset.
• The curriculum is well designed and shows the sequence of intended learning for children to help prepare them for their future learning and the eventual move on to school. The curriculum is adapted well to meet the needs of children who currently attend. Staff provide positive interactions which extend children's thinking and understanding while they play. However, teaching can be quite broad and does not focus as sharply on the learning that individual children need to help them make the most progress they are capable of.
• The provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is effective. Staff liaise well with parents and other agencies to ensure that these children receive the support they need. Staff clearly focus their plans and interactions to include the specific learning for these children and ensure their needs are met.
• Communication and language is promoted well. All children particularly enjoy song and story times together. For example, they recall the sequence of a popular nursery story about three bears and are eager to take their turn to speak among the group and share their ideas of what will happen next. Staff give lots of praise for their efforts which helps to raise children's confidence and self-esteem while they practise their speaking skills.
• Children have lots of fun and enjoy spending time in the outdoor space that is arranged well for them. They have ample opportunities to develop their larger and smaller physical skills. For example, they practise balancing while moving along a wooden walkway and climbing on the frame or rope to swing. Others explore colour while they use their smaller muscles and focus to pour water into various-sized containers.
• The manager who is also the leader ensures that staff receive the required training and provides ample opportunities for staff to continue their professional development through training, research and their involvement in other programmes. Staff are included in the evaluation of the setting which is used well to continue to enhance the nursery provision for children and their families.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery and comment on how friendly and approachable staff and managers are. They say their children are happy attending and that they are pleased with the progress their children make. Parents value the regular information they receive about their child's care and learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make use of the opportunity when children first start, to gather more detail from parents about what children know and can do to inform plans for what these children are ready to learn next from the outset
• sharpen the focus of teaching during interactions to include the learning that individual children need to help them make the most progress they are capable of.