Ambleside Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enter a calm and welcoming space. They are warmly greeted by friendly staff. On the whole, children separate from parents with ease and are quick to settle. Those that need a little help receive a reassuring cuddle. This helps them to feel safe and secure and supports their well-being. Children recognise who their key person is and gravitate towards them. This supports the need for children to have an adult to identify with, recognised as an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff remain vigilant as to where children are in the nursery and ensure children are always engaged in play inside and in the outside space.

Children are encouraged to develop, with a focus on confidence and resilience. Staff encourage children to interact together. For instance, babies join the older children at lunchtime. This supports children of all ages to socialise and make friends. Overall, staff have high expectations for each child, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children who are learning to speak English as an additional language make good progress in communication. Children have a positive attitude to learning. They are curious and explore new activities, such as with shaving foam in a plastic tray.

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

• Staff identify that individuality is at the heart of everything the nursery does. They believe this to be fundamental to developing children's independence. This prepares children for when they move up to the pre-school-age nursery next door. Overall, staff encourage children to do things for themselves, such as putting on their own coat to go outside. However, at times, there are missed opportunities to encourage this development. Staff do not consistently encourage children to undertake simple tasks for themselves, such as older children clearing the lunch table.
• Staff give children the opportunity to develop their physical skills. This starts from when the younger children are learning to walk. Children are given lots of space to crawl and low equipment to pull themselves up on. Staff encourage older children to develop their stepping and balancing skills in the outside space. They provide crates that children climb onto and walk along.
• Children with SEND are fully supported. Staff have a separate room that is used to offer a quiet area. This provides children with the time and space to learn and develop new skills with a specialised teacher, such as how to use sign language. Staff work with individual children and include parents in this process where needed. They support children who speak English as an additional language. Staff read stories and use single words for instruction to help children understand, and model language.
• Staff are quick to reinforce the rules and behavioural expectations of children.
• For example, they remind a child to use their 'kind hands' with their peers. Overall, children behave well and are quick to act on instruction. However, at times, staff do not fully encourage children to make choices for themselves, such as at mealtimes.
• Staff are well supported by the headteacher. They feel comfortable enough to approach her with concerns or worries. Staff can access training any time, for example online. They discuss training requirements as a team during meetings. The headteacher delivers short courses during this time, such as on understanding British values. This ensures staff have regular opportunities to further their knowledge and that of the children in the nursery.
• Parents are very complimentary about how well their children have settled in the nursery. They comment on how children form secure relationships with their key person. Parents say the nursery provides regular feedback about their children's progress through an online assessment tool. They praise the presence of the headteacher at pick-up time to allow for more feedback or a conversation. Parents compliment staff and say it is obvious they care deeply for the children in the nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide more opportunities for children to complete more simple tasks for themselves to extend their independence skills even further
• support staff to implement a more consistent approach to helping children understand that they have a choice and can self-select.