Apple Tree Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children feel happy and safe in this warm and nurturing environment. They form warm relationships with staff and are keen to share their play and learning with them. Staff and leaders have high expectations for every child. They aim for every child to become confident, curious, creative and a good communicator by the time they leave the nursery. Staff consider the programme of learning carefully to help children to achieve these goals.

Children learn how to work as a team and listen to each other's ideas. For example, they work together to decide where to get water from and how to carry it to the water toys. This helps children form strong friendships with their peers. Children learn how to keep themselves healthy. They benefit from lots of discussion and activities about healthy eating and oral hygiene. For example, children benefit from a visit from oral health professionals and practise what they have learned through brushing models of teeth. This helps to give children the knowledge they need for a healthy start in life.

Children behave well. They respond with proud smiles as staff give them descriptive praise, such as 'well done for pouring the glitter carefully'. This praise helps children to understand expected behaviour.

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

• Leaders plan an effective curriculum for communication and language. Staff support babies to build their vocabulary by commenting on what babies are doing as they play. For example, staff comment as babies 'squeeze', 'scoop' and 'pour' during water play. This helps babies to associate vocabulary with their actions. Staff support toddlers and pre-schoolers to develop their sentences by extending what children are saying as they play with them or lead activities. For example, staff model how to say 'would you like sprinkles on your ice cream?,' and then children use this language later during independent play. This helps children to extend their spoken vocabulary and improve their sentence structure.
• Staff teach children the skills that they need to make good progress in their personal, social and emotional development. Children confidently express how they are feeling and the reasons for this. This helps them learn to understand and name their emotions. Children also learn important social skills such as turn-taking. They take turns well as they line up to buy a pretend ice cream from the role play area. Staff teach children to be polite and say 'please' and 'thank you' by consistently modelling this throughout the day.
• Leaders carefully consider the programme of learning for physical development. Staff plan many opportunities each day for children to develop their physical skills. Children develop their hand-eye coordination and fine-motor skills as they scoop and pour lentils and use magnetic fishing rods to catch wooden fish. Children develop their gross-motor skills as they balance along sloped beams, carry and pour buckets of water or sand or use the slide. This helps children to make good progress in their physical development.
• Leaders have a strong understanding of how to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They carefully consider strategies to support these children and ensure that staff use these strategies consistently. Leaders work effectively with external agencies so that children access any support necessary to help them achieve their goals.
• Leaders work hard to ensure good practice among the staff team. They coach and mentor staff effectively through individual supervision meetings, training and modelling of good practice. This helps staff to continuously improve their practice so that they have the necessary skills to provide a high quality of care and teaching to children.
• Leaders build very strong parent partnerships. Staff keep parents up to date with what their children have been learning very effectively. This helps children to transition confidently between home and nursery.
• Where children speak other languages in addition to English, some staff do not know the child's home language. This means that they cannot use this information to support their communication skills and personal development.
• At times, staff do not consider how to support children to develop their independence. For example, babies need to be lifted to wash their hands in a sink which is high up and staff pour toddlers' drinks for them. On these occasions, this does not help all children to develop their self-care skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider how to help children to further develop their independence
• ensure that staff are aware of any additional languages that children speak or hear at home, and consider how to use this information to support children's development.