Basingstoke College of Technology

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show that they feel happy and secure in this welcoming nursery, where the staff and management team work hard to create a strong, family ethos. The manager aims to focus not only on each child but to support each family as a whole.

Children in all age groups benefit from staff who know them well and who plan a varied and interesting curriculum. For example, babies explore frozen paint cubes and learn to make marks with them on paper. Toddlers investigate toy dinosaurs hidden in slime and older children take part in fun exercise activities where they jump and stretch. All children enjoy the praise they receive for their efforts and achievements. This helps to build their self-esteem and confidence.

Children show they are inquisitive learners. They explore their environments, inside and outside, with enthusiasm. All children, including those in receipt of additional funding, develop a positive attitude towards learning and are gaining the skills they need for the next stage of their education. For example, older children develop good independence skills and learn how to manage their self-care. Children's behaviour is good overall and staff support them well to learn to manage their feelings and behaviour.

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

• The manager and her staff have worked hard to adapt to changes in practice as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. They continue to evaluate the positive aspect of some of these changes, such as moving whole groups of children up to the next room, which has enabled children to feel more confident and settled as they experience the transition with their friends.
• Staff show respect for children's voices and opinions. For example, children are often encouraged to vote for which story they would like or which theme they would like their role-play area to be next. Staff also recognise the impact on children's self-esteem if they are asked to take apart or tidy away their 'work'. As a result, staff enable children to display their models in the office window for their parents and carers to see. They place unfinished jigsaw puzzles on boards so that children can return to them as and when they wish.
• Staff are very knowledgeable about individual children and carefully plan activities based on children's interests to close any gaps in learning. However, staff do not always adapt their teaching to meet children's differing needs or emerging interests as they arise during activities, in order to maximise children's learning.
• Children's physical health is promoted well through nutritious food, regular fresh air and exercise. The management team has worked with the college to review the policy on the provision of food and children's allergies to further ensure that children's dietary requirements are strictly adhered to. Children thoroughly enjoy playing outside and have great fun using the slide to go from the upper garden to the lower garden. They confidently ride on wheeled toys, play with the mud kitchen and explore the natural area. Older children show good imagination as they make a nest with grass and pretend that the stones they have found are dinosaur eggs.
• Staff comment that they feel well supported. They have regular supervision meetings and access some training to help develop their practice. The management team has recently introduced a 'room improvement scheme' to help room leaders observe their staff from a different perspective and evaluate the quality of teaching in a more objective way. This will support the staff to continuously improve the service they provide for children.
• Parents feel well informed. They describe the care as 'excellent' and that the staff appear genuinely interested in their children. Parents comment that their children look forward to attending nursery and that they take part in a wide variety of activities.
• All children, including the youngest, are confident to approach visitors to the setting. Staff promote children's language and communication skills well. For example, when exploring toys eggs filled with slime, young children use good descriptive language, such as 'sticky', 'squishy' and 'cold'.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to further strengthen the delivery of the curriculum, so they consistently consider their interactions and resources provided during group activities, to make the most of children's learning opportunities.