Alexander House Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery happy and excited to start their day. Key persons, who know children and their families very well, greet them with a warm hug and encouraging words. This helps children to feel confident and safe. Staff understand the importance of supporting children's personal, social and emotional development. They are kind and nurturing and always available to children who need emotional support. The provision and resources provide rich learning experiences for children, encouraging them to follow their own interests. Children, from the youngest to the oldest, play together in the large, well-organised playroom. They understand how to share and take turns and show consideration for each other.

Staff have high expectations for the children they teach. They plan activities that are interesting and engaging for all of the children. When involved in these activities, children make good progress. For example, children explore the properties of snow, ice and water. Babies use their senses to explore the water, and older children observe how the ice melts when they add liquid and salt. Staff carefully explain what is happening, introducing new key words. When asked at the end of the activity what happened to the ice and snow, children collectively respond with, 'It melted'.

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

• The manager has a clear intention for the nursery. She describes how she wants children to leave the nursery as confident and independent individuals, who are ready for the next stage in their education. The manager implements this by designing a curriculum that is based on children following their own interests and developing their own learning through play. Resources support all the areas of the early years foundation stage and are organised so that children can access them freely. Children are focused and stay at the activities they have chosen for extended periods of time, practising and extending their skills and understanding.
• All children make good progress, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff talk knowledgeably about what children are working on and how they are supporting them to close any gaps in their learning. However, some staff do not fully understand how to intervene and extend children's independent play. This means that they do not consistently use valuable learning opportunities to extend children's learning.
• Staff focus on developing children's communication skills. They model the use of spoken English well. Staff speak slowly and clearly, using simple words and phrases to support children's understanding. They describe what children are doing and ask lots of questions, encouraging children to answer. This constantly exposes children to spoken language, giving them the confidence to speak for themselves.
• The nursery has a varied collection of books, and children visit the local library weekly. However, staff do not regularly encourage children to use the inviting book areas and select books to read on their own and with others. Therefore, children do not begin to understand the importance of books and reading and how they can help to improve their language skills.
• Children's behaviour is generally good. Older children explain the routine activities that happen during the day. They describe how they help at lunchtimes, put on their own coats and shoes and are able to go to the toilet themselves, showing real pride in their independence skills. Most children have a good understanding of the expectations for their behaviour and follow the rules. However, staff do not consistently reinforce their expectations or explain to children why particular behaviour is not allowed. This means that some children do not fully understand why their behaviour is sometimes inappropriate.
• The manager values her staff, making sure that they feel supported, both professionally and personally. She works alongside staff, modelling good practice and organises regular training to develop their skills. Staff are highly motivated and report how happy and well supported they feel.
• The manager strives to provide the best provision she can. She evaluates staff's teaching practice regularly, seeking advice from the local authority and other agencies to inform her development work. The manager seeks feedback from children, staff and parents and acts on their suggestions. Parents are extremely positive about the nursery. They comment on how well staff know their children and appreciate the detailed information they provide about their children's experiences and learning needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff understanding of how support children's independent play activities, to extend their learning further
• provide more opportunities for children to read books and listen to stories, to further support their language development
• extend staff's understanding of how to help children behave well and understand the impact their behaviour has on others.