Apple Daycare Ltd (Lemsford)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff welcome children into this very inviting setting, and children engage quickly with the wealth of enticing activities. Children form extremely secure attachments to familiar adults, who are caring and highly responsive. Children show that they feel very safe and secure, demonstrating confidence as a result.

Staff treat children with the utmost respect by giving them a voice and encouraging them to make choices. The whole curriculum centres around children's curiosity and encouraging them to make their own choices about how they use resources. Staff encourage children to contribute their own ideas. For example, children show extremely high levels of engagement as they pour 'reindeer food' into different-sized containers that they have selected. Care routines are sensitive. Staff ask children to take part and explain why these routines are important. This respectful behaviour modelled by staff is mirrored in children's interactions.

Children delight in a range of wonderful learning experiences outside. They have daily access to the outdoor environment, where staff plan a range of superb learning opportunities. They also explore the environment and take regular walks to a local historical building. This helps children understand the natural environment, as staff talk to the children about what they can see and the changing seasons. For instance, children listen to their feet 'crunching' on the frost as they go for a walk across the green.

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

• Staff have designed an extremely clear, well-thought-out curriculum, which covers all areas of learning and provides challenge for the children. They use this curriculum, with detailed knowledge of each child's interests and needs, to provide highly stimulating and engaging activities for the children. As a result, children show extremely high levels of motivation towards learning and make outstanding progress.
• Staff provide daily, focused teaching sessions. These sessions focus on teaching children specific skills that are appropriate for their age. Children learn to listen appropriately, and staff skilfully differentiate tasks to ensure all children can access the excellent learning opportunities and are highly challenged in their learning.
• Staff provide a rich variety of experiences to promote children's understanding of the world. Parents are invited to share their culture, and staff use all opportunities to celebrate diversity. For example, they are in the process of receiving recipes from parents to add to their menu. Staff also use key words from children's home language to help their transition from home. This helps children to feel extremely safe and secure.
• Children are encouraged to lead a healthy lifestyle. The nursery provides a wide range of extra-curricular activities to keep children active and engage them in different aspects of learning. They provide dance classes, sensory classes, sports clubs and circus-skills sessions. Children delight as they join in with a music session, using rhymes, songs and props. As a result, children develop excellent speech and language skills.
• Partnership with parents is extremely strong. Parents value the very close relationships their children have with staff and share that their children love attending nursery. They feel fully informed about their children's learning through daily verbal feedback and detailed explanations of learning opportunities through the nursery app. This detailed information encourages parents to support their child's learning at home.
• Members of the management team are passionate about providing children with the highest quality of care and education. They recognise that high-quality education comes from highly qualified staff with a passion for caring for children. The managers dedicate time and resources to recruit and retain these staff. They provide excellent training opportunities for staff. As a result, staff feel extremely valued, happy and supported.
• Staff have high ambitions for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff design and tailor challenging but achievable targets, using individual plans to ensure that children are well supported and make outstanding progress. For example, children use objects of reference to support their developing language skills and use visual flashcards to remind them of good behaviour choices. This detailed planning and support ensures the nursery is fully inclusive and helps children to learn to behave appropriately. Staff work closely with external professionals to ensure children make the best possible progress.