Bemerton Childrens Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this exceptional nursery. They develop strong attachments with the caring and attentive staff. Children demonstrate that they feel very happy and emotionally secure. They make independent choices from the motivating experiences that fire their curiosity and love of learning. Children are inspired by the natural materials they find in the garden. They display their highly imaginative and creative minds as they build a wonderful house for spiders and fairies.

Staff want the best outcomes for all children. Children demonstrate high levels of concentration, perseverance and resilience, even when activities are challenging. Outdoors, children skilfully negotiate the climbing equipment. They support each other with advice so that they do not fall, and motivate their friends to keep on trying. Children smile and laugh together and are excited to share their achievements, saying, 'I did it, I wasn't scared!' Older children develop strong foundations in subjects such as mathematics and literacy, to support their move to school.

Children thoroughly enjoy being outdoors in their stimulating garden and on visits to parks and woodlands. They build strong bodies through vigorous daily exercise and activities such as yoga and movement sessions. Children enjoy the nutritious meals provided and talk enthusiastically about the positive effects on their bodies, such as building muscles and providing energy.

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

• The manager oversees continuous improvement in the nursery extremely successfully. She maintains a strong focus on the needs of the children and families attending. The professional development of staff is sharply focused to meet these needs and to enhance staff's individual skills and knowledge. Staff say that they feel valued and are very well supported, both professionally and personally.
• Leaders and staff provide an exceptionally broad and balanced curriculum that builds on what children know and can do. For example, staff notice that children enjoy playing with bubbles, so they provide resources for children to explore ways of creating bubbles for themselves.
• The learning programmes incorporate a wealth of interesting and meaningful learning experiences. For example, children help to grow vegetables in the nursery garden and enjoy cooking and eating them. Staff describe how these experiences enrich children's lives and inspire them to develop new interests and talents.
• Leaders and staff continually strive for the best outcomes for children. Staff closely monitor children's development. They initiate early interventions, to ensure all children receive the help they need. This includes highly focused teaching within the nursery and support from other professionals where appropriate. As a result, all children, including those who receive additional funding, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language, make excellent progress in relation to their starting points.
• Teaching is superb. Staff continually model positive language skills. They introduce new words and ask meaningful questions to support children's thought processes. Staff incorporate alternative ways for children to express themselves, such as using simple signs and pictures. This supports all children to share their views. Children become highly skilful communicators; they express themselves fluently and enjoy meaningful conversations with adults and their peers.
• Staff build strong and effective relationships with parents and work extremely hard to fully engage them in their children's learning. They are active in signposting parents to other family support services. Parents comment on the many ways that staff help them and their children. They speak of the 'amazing, caring staff' and say their children are 'very loved, safe and well cared for' at the nursery.
• Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff provide excellent support to help children express their feelings and manage their behaviour. For instance, they help toddlers to identify their emotions by relating them to 'colour monsters'. They teach older children deep breathing techniques, to help them stay calm. Older children skilfully settle issues, such as agreeing the rules for a game, in a grown-up and friendly manner.
• Children become extremely confident and independent with their personal care skills. They competently serve their meals and access drinking water independently when they are thirsty. Children develop a secure understanding of good hygiene routines. For instance, they explain that they must cover their mouths when they cough to prevent them spreading germs to others.