Blue Grass Purple Cow Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery is led by a passionate and enthusiastic manager who encourages staff to, 'think outside of the box'. Consequently, children are thriving in a fun-filled and imaginative learning environment. Children enter the nursery happily and are eager to learn.

Staff develop warm, nurturing relationships with the children, which helps them to feel safe and secure. Staff provide many opportunities for children to communicate with each other. Children enthusiastically recreate stories outdoors; they work collaboratively and share ideas as they build a boat using recycled materials. Staff inspire children's learning. They help them to become resilient and skilled communicators.

There is a clear focus on children's health and well-being. Children learn about healthy eating as they gather fruit, herbs and vegetables from the garden to be used in their meals. Children are confident to share their new skills, such as mindfulness with others. Children are kind and caring to one another, show respect during group games and are considerate of their friends. They behave well and learn to resolve conflicts. The manager is excellent at helping children to manage their feelings and behaviour. This helps them to learn the essential skills they need to move on to school.

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

• Staff work closely with parents, schools and other agencies to accelerate children's learning and progress. This is particularly evident for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff identify gaps quickly and put targeted support in place. Most staff skilfully adapt the curriculum to meet children's diverse and ever-changing needs. This helps children to engage in experiences that interest them.
• Parents are highly complimentary of the setting and the progress that their children are making. Parents are fully involved in their children's learning and are provided with a wide range of activities to carry out at home, which further enhances their children's progress. Staff use innovative ideas to share children's achievements with parents such as the daily 'postcards' home.
• The supervision arrangements for staff are focused on developing their knowledge and skills. Several staff have recently changed roles within the setting and are being mentored by the manager and other staff. The nursery is currently in a transition phase as staff become firmly embedded in their new role. Staff who are training receive intensive support and all staff's well-being is considered.
• Staff plan meaningful and engaging activities that capture children's curiosity and their 'can-do' attitude. Children persevere at tasks, such as working out how to carry a bucket of water safely. Toddlers have many opportunities to develop their finger muscles through a range of creative activities.
• Children use mathematical language well as they play. They talk about how the bucket gets heavier as they fill it with water and how they need one more watering can to fill it. Younger children are becoming more confident to count and recognise numbers in the environment.
• Children's communication and language is progressing well. Children develop a love of stories and older children explain the parts of a book, such as what the illustrator does. Children confidently talk to their parents about the new words they have learnt such as 'cardiovascular' and 'stethoscopes', as well as the science experiments they have conducted. Children were keen to tell inspectors about the 'Blue Glastonbury festival' that they held in nursery.
• Staff follow a curriculum that enables most children to make rapid and consistent progress. Well thought out topics are filtered throughout the nursery with a focus on specific songs and stories for different age groups. However, staff are less clear about what the youngest children need to learn next. They often focus on planning over complex activities. This results in some staff not using what they know about some children to build on and extend their learning further.
• The focus on encouraging children's independence is a strength. Older children collect their own meals, set the table and pour their drinks. This helps them to prepare for school. Staff effectively support children to see to their own personal care needs, such as toileting, and they encourage babies to feed themselves. Children wash their hands at appropriate times, 'to keep the germs away.'
• The manager places a strong focus on supporting older children's physical development. Older children eagerly take part in music, movement and exercise activities, especially the 'waka, waka' song. This helps children develop a positive attitude to staying fit and well. In the garden, older children develop good coordination and balance. They enjoy digging and caring for their plants and vegetables. Babies are gaining confidence to crawl and pull themselves up. However, staff do not always consistently plan activities to further develop the babies' core strength, stability and balance. This limits the opportunities babies have to help them walk independently.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to fully understand how to embed the curriculum for the youngest children so that every child is provided with high quality learning experiences
• strengthen staff's understanding of how to consistently promote the youngest children's physical skills to aid the progress they make with walking.