Auntie Jayne's House

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a warm and welcoming environment. Children separate from carers well and quickly settle into their day. Across the nursery, children form strong, nurturing bonds with staff. Staff act as positive role models and have high expectations for children's behaviour. They focus on helping children to form positive relationships and develop their social skills. They are gentle and kind with children when they are upset. Children benefit from a supportive environment where they feel emotionally secure. Children enjoy daily yoga sessions, which helps them relax and learn how to regulate their emotions.

The daily routine supports children to develop independence skills. Children are taught to be responsible for their belongings, serve themselves food and pour their own drinks. This helps to prepare them for their next stage of learning.

Children benefit from a well-resourced outdoor area and have daily access to fresh air. Older children enjoy eating their snacks and lunch in the outdoors, and during the summer months, younger children nap in the garden. This provides a calm and restful atmosphere. Staff are responsive to children's interests. For example, they have added large construction materials to extend learning and support imaginative play.

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

• Leaders have designed a curriculum that is planned to meet the individual needs and next steps of the children. This helps all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make progress from their starting points. There are a range of experiences that support learning across all curriculum areas, with a focus on promoting communication, independence and social skills. Staff use children's interests when planning the curriculum. This helps to keep children motivated and engaged in their learning.
• Children are developing an understanding of mathematics. They use mathematical language during everyday activities, such as counting plates and describing the shape of their biscuits at snack time. During outdoor learning, children's interest in drawing a spider is used to encourage counting and problem-solving. However, some group times are not always organised in a way that fully supports the quieter children. This can limit their opportunities to share their thoughts and ideas to extend their learning.
• Staff recognise the importance of communication with parents to support each child. They build positive relationships with families and share regular updates on children's progress and next steps in learning. Parents speak positively about the nursery and the care their children receive. They describe it as a 'home from home' and comment that their children particularly enjoy the delicious home- cooked food.
• Routines across the nursery are established, and children know what is expected of them. This helps them to feel secure and confident. However, there are occasions where children experience long waiting times when staff are busy with tasks, such as during lunch or snack time. This can lead to some children becoming restless or bored.
• Staff understand the value of enhancing children's experiences, and this is a strength of the nursery. They take part in experiences within the community, for example walks to the shops, fundraising events and visits to a care home. The fire service visits, encounters with hedgehogs and caring for the nursery hamster also help to provide children with access to wider experiences that they may not otherwise have.
• The leadership team has recruitment procedures that ensure staff are suitable to work with children. Leaders are committed to supporting professional development and the well-being of the team. Staff comment that they feel supported by management, and they have regular supervision sessions. This helps them to maintain high standards of practice and enhance their professional knowledge and skills. This positively impacts on children's learning.
• Children's speech and language development is well supported through conversations, stories and songs in a language-rich environment. Books are easily accessible, and singing is embedded throughout the day. Any concerns are identified early, with interventions put in place, ensuring children make good progress in their communication skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff in recognising when quieter or less confident children need encouragement to engage in learning experiences
• review and improve daily routines to reduce unnecessarily long waiting periods for children.