Attwood Farm Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enter the nursery enthusiastically. They are pleased to see their friends and the staff. Children are happy, safe and secure. They understand and follow established routines, hanging up their coats and removing outdoor shoes. Children behave well, responding positively to the high expectations of staff. They are polite and courteous, saying please and thank you, usually without reminders. Children can share and take turns, passing each other toys and other items. Staff use timers to regulate some activities and to help support younger children in their understanding of sharing. Children benefit from nourishing, home-cooked food. They enjoy sociable mealtimes, chatting together about their experiences and preferences. Cheesy pasta bake is a great favourite.

Children's opportunities for physical development are wide ranging. Outdoors, they climb, run and make use of the ride-on toys confidently. They learn how to manage risk, making sure their friends have moved away from the bottom of the slide before they slide down it. Children have regular trips, such as to the woods, where they explore the natural world and observe seasonal changes. For example, they notice that the trees are beginning to go green and, since their last visit, there are flowers growing.

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

• Parents are uniformly delighted with the setting. They are particularly pleased with the emphasis on outdoor play. Parents say communication is good. For example, staff provide parents with regular reports and photographs of their child's learning and progress, which are posted on the online platform. Parents are consulted about their child's preferences regularly.
• Staff plan engaging activities, based on children's interests. For example, children are very excited when they discover a range of minibeasts under some wood, which leads to the creation of a bug house. This helps to support the good progress children make. At times, activities do not precisely address specific next steps in children's learning.
• Children's communication and language skills are effectively developed. Staff speak clearly and support children in extending their vocabulary. For instance, younger children learn the more unusual names for young animals, such as 'goslings', as well as the more common ones. They use soft toys to describe the feel of fur and feathers. Older children are encouraged to use compound, rather than simple sentences.
• Staff support children in learning how to care for others. For instance, they help to bottle feed the baby lambs and brush the coats of the donkeys. Children look after the strawberries they have planted and look forward to eating them.
• Children have many opportunities to make marks and older children begin to write their names independently. They confidently use simple tools, such as rolling pins, scissors and play knives, to create models from modelling dough. However, occasionally, staff are not fully effective at using questioning to help children explore their own thoughts and ideas.
• Staff read stories to children which support forthcoming events in their lives, such as starting school. Children listen with interest and make comments, demonstrating understanding of the story. They can answer questions about the story, recalling the actions of the characters. Children will often choose to look at books independently.
• Leaders are reflective about their practice. For example, staff benefit from regular meetings with the manager to discuss their training needs. Staff are encouraged to undertake further training and are supported in this by leaders. They receive advice to help to improve their skills and practice.
• Parents talk to children about their own cultures and celebrations to help to support their understanding. Staff help children to learn about people and communities, and similarities and differences well. For example, they are encouraged to be involved in community events, such as the Flower Festival. The community are invited to the nursery Nativity performances.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus the planning of activities more sharply on children's identified next steps in learning to support even better progress
• support staff in understanding how to use questioning more consistently to support children's critical thinking skills.