Blossom Childcare Nature Nursery Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily and ready to learn. They experience a well-planned curriculum which motivates them successfully and supports them to make good progress in their learning. Children are eager to explore, whether they are playing with shaving foam and glitter or finding out which toy car travels the furthest down the ramp. They make choices about their play and independently select from an attractive array of resources to develop and explore their own ideas. Children are very well behaved. Younger children learn to say 'please' and 'thank you', and older children share well and take turns with no disagreements.

Staff have high expectations of the children and are committed to helping them develop many skills to support their future learning. Children have many good opportunities to take part in outdoor activities which successfully support their physical development and well-being.

Communication has remained good between parents and staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This has helped to maintain the good links already in place and supported families well. Although parents do not currently come into the setting, staff greet each child individually at the door and share information with the parents verbally and through an app. This helps to ensure that parents feel fully involved in their child's learning.

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

• Babies are happy and emotionally secure. They enjoy lots of cuddles and receive gentle and caring support from staff. Staff use repetitive words and make positive sounds to encourage babies' engagement, as they enjoy using their senses to explore and investigate.
• Children benefit from learning to care for animals. For example, they help to feed and clean out the nursery rabbit and turtles. Children engage in exciting activities outdoors, which helps them to reconnect with nature and gain a deeper understanding of the world. For example, they talk about what they know about birds and animals as they embark on a forest walk and demonstrate what they have learned about building fires and keeping safe.
• Children enjoy the role play area. They use the real crockery and utensils to make 'tea'. Children chatter happily with one another and the staff as they busy themselves acting out familiar routines. They use their imagination well as they take on the role of a hairdresser and style each other's hair. Staff make the most of these spontaneous opportunities to engage children in conversation, encouraging them to think about and describe what they are doing.
• Staff use language well to extend most children's vocabulary. For example, they introduce words such as 'dribbling' when using the glue sticks, and 'spikey' when describing an object. Most children use their language confidently and successfully to share their ideas, needs and wants. However, staff do not do all that they can to support the quieter or less confident children, to engage them more to speak and to develop their language further.
• Although children follow good handwashing routines and know the reasons why this is important, staff do not always promote children's health as well as they could. For example, the contents of some children's lunchboxes are not always healthy. Staff do not always encourage babies to drink juice from a cup to support good oral health.
• Children develop a love of books and stories and have a positive attitude to learning. They listen well to a story at group time and join in with familiar phrases. Staff use sign language to enhance children's understanding and introduce words in other languages. This means that children who are learning to speak English as an additional language feel equally valued and included.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents are happy with the progress their children make and what the setting offers their children. Parents appreciate the excellent communication and enjoy receiving daily updates, including photographs of their children engaged in activities. Parents are very complimentary about the staff and their professionalism, care and commitment.
• The manager provides strong leadership for the staff team. The manager and staff regularly reflect on their practice and assess the quality of the provision, to identify areas for development. There are good systems in place to monitor and support staff's professional development. Staff feel well supported.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend staff practices to encourage the quieter, less confident children more in order to further support their language development
• engage parents more in promoting children's healthy eating and good oral health.