Ashdon Childrens Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in the warm and welcoming nursery. They have a genuine thirst for learning. This is because staff plan an enticing curriculum with activities that embrace children's unique interests and preferred patterns of learning. These sustain children's engagement for long periods of time and result in a calm and productive environment.

Children demonstrate high levels of engagement in the activities that are provided for them and use resources and tools on offer to extend their own learning. The language-rich environment that is created by staff supports all children to acquire and use language, and they are excellent communicators. Children are confident to express their own ideas and needs, and staff listen and respond with great interest. Children are highly independent and confident. They are rapidly developing the key skills needed to be ready for school.

Children's emotional well-being is superbly considered by staff who are caring and responsive to their needs. Children behave exceptionally well. They are highly respectful and kind to each other. They readily help their friends to complete tasks together. For example, children eagerly take part in tidying-up activities. They carry resources back to storage areas, helping each other to carry heavier items.

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

• Managers are passionate about the work they do. They lead the nursery with integrity, ensuring that all children in their care access high-quality early years experiences. Managers are ambitious in their vision and want all children to thrive and be ready for what comes next.
• The dedicated staff feel well supported. They receive regular supervision sessions and benefit from peer-on-peer observations. Professional development opportunities for staff are precisely targeted to further support children's learning needs. The manager seeks out new initiatives that enable staff to implement excellent practice.
• Parents are highly complimentary of the care provided to their children and feel well informed about their children's learning and development. They know what their child is working on and how they can support them at home. Parents describe the staff as 'caring', 'creative' and 'inspirational'. They also comment on the great communication and say that they feel lucky to be a part of this exceptional nursery. Regular parent workshops offer knowledge of how to support children's learning at home, as well as social events.
• Staff deliver a high-quality and ambitious curriculum that is varied and precisely tailored to meet the individual needs of each child. They know children extremely well and build on what they already know. All children are provided with a high level of challenge through their chosen play. This successfully supports them to reach their individual potential. Rich opportunities enable children to learn Spanish and visit the local garden centre. They watch in awe as chicks hatch out of eggs and help to harvest fruit to cook and eat.
• Children benefit from a wealth of rich experiences during forest-school sessions, which provide opportunities to take risks through climbing and exploring natural resources. Staff intuitively enrich children's curiosity. For example, they add herbs to water and talk about what they can smell as they make 'soup' in the mud kitchen. They investigate height by measuring how far they can stretch up, using water brushes to mark trees.
• Staff create a personalised induction and a settling-in process for each child. This means staff have a clear starting point that enables them to build on what children already know. Staff meticulously plan transitions to support the smooth move from one room to another. For instance, children are accompanied by their key person while they become familiar with the new room and the daily routine. This helps children to feel safe and secure and to settle quickly.
• Children demonstrate high levels of independence. Staff carefully guide children to solve problems and meet challenges. For example, at mealtimes babies work towards feeding themselves with spoons. Toddlers practise using forks with increasing control, while pre-school children self-serve their food and use knives and forks competently.