Bertrum House Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive and flourish at this exceptional setting. They arrive happy and are eager to meet their friends and greet the welcoming staff. Staff are highly effective in creating a wealth of excellent learning experiences, indoors and outdoors. In all areas, children access a curriculum that boosts and motivates their ability to learn new skills. They quickly become independent explorers, developing their own personal interests and preferences. During activities, staff confidently model language. They talk to children about what they are doing, helping them to fully understand language. For example, staff introduce and promote new words, such as 'migration, stoke' and 'initiative'.

Staff are highly committed to ensuring that children have access to vigorous outdoor activities every day. This supports children to build confidence, independence and curiosity. Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff embed effective expectations and consistent routines, which helps children to be aware of what is expected of them. Children develop strong friendships and show respect, care and kindness to not only the staff but to one another. For instance, they demonstrate compassion as they support staff to help new children to settle without being prompted.

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

• The highly qualified staff team foster children's literacy exceptionally well. For instance, during book club, staff introduce older children to 'awesome books', which creates emerging readers who are very excited about books. Children confidently read aloud in front of their friends, which helps to strengthen their social skills. Staff use a self-registration system to enable all children to sign in by either locating their picture, their name or writing their own name in print.
• Staff nurture children's creativity and imagination, such as by adding excitement when setting up the garden for children to act out the bear hunt. Children join in with gusto as they run around in the tall grass reciting "swishy, swashy, swishy, swashy". Older children hold out their hands to their friends and staff to help them to negotiate the 'thick oozy mud'.
• Communication and language are key focus areas for staff. They support children who are developing their early language skills to learn Makaton. Staff in the pre-school transformed the role-play area into a plane, to create an enabling environment for children to freely express their adventures of their summer break.
• Staff make thorough and accurate assessments of children's learning. They use this information extremely well to plan children's individual next steps in learning through challenging activities. This supports children to be extremely prepared for the next stage of their learning, and eventual move on to school.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities exceptionally well. They foster strong partnerships with parents and outside professionals. Staff source and use additional funding for specific children's individual needs to purchase carefully selected resources that extend and enhance children's learning experiences.
• Staff nurture children's understanding of the world. They teach children how to keep themselves safe, such as when they access flint and steel fire starters to create a pretend campfire. Staff draw on children's growing interest and knowledge of dinosaurs, such as they create meals for the 'dinosaur coming to tea'. They discuss the migration of dinosaurs and how it happens.
• Children take part in hands-on science activities, such as when they are involved in composting. They learn about the environment, recycling and reducing waste. Children use the compost to nourish their growing area.
• Parents and carers are very enthusiastic to share their highly positive feedback about the nursery. They feel extremely well involved and informed of their children's learning. This partnership contributes greatly to children's success at the nursery.
• Staff are supported exceptionally well through a continuous cycle of highly effective supervision and training opportunities. This helps them to continually improve their already very strong practice even further. The management team demonstrates a very strong drive to continually enhance the nursery, taking account of the views of staff, parents and children.
• Staff are highly skilled and sensitive in helping children to form secure emotional attachments. They provide a gentle start for children transitioning into the nursery.