Bradley House

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children excel and have a real zest for learning in this inspirational nursery. Children develop a wealth of impressive skills and knowledge for their future learning through staff's high-quality interactions and their rich, limitless and inventive curriculum. Staff create richly resourced environments that accelerate children's learning. They enrich children's experiences through extra-curricular activities, such as visiting the local farm shop and care home, French lessons and gardening and cooking clubs.

The joyful nursery is a hive of activity. Children show high levels of confidence and are continuously engrossed in enticing and highly motivating activities. These precisely target children's next steps in learning, while nurturing their interests and fascinations. For example, while exploring intriguing tactile media, babies and younger children practise their small physical skills as they scoop, fill and empty. Staff expand older children's great interest in dinosaurs and the world through unique activities. For example, children investigate miniature dinosaur skeletons in magnifying pots and try to replicate these with larger dinosaur bones.

Children have strong attachments to loving staff. This helps them to settle quickly and feel happy, safe and secure. Staff are outstanding role models who set clear expectations for children's behaviour, which is exemplary. Children learn essential social skills, such as sharing, politeness, kindness, respect and empathy and engage in litter picking and recycling. Children develop wonderful friendships as they excitedly make concoctions together in the 'potion station' and solve problems while building large constructions. Older children form a 'pre-school council'. They learn about democracy while making decisions together.

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

• Staff adapt space and daily routines superbly to meet children's developmental needs. For example, they provide two lunch sittings in each room to create a calm and unhurried mealtime, where learning continues. For example, children handle and talk about the fresh vegetables used to create a biryani dish. Older children access abundant activities that extend their learning and prepare them for school to an even greater extent in the 'enhanced learning' room.
• Staff swiftly identify and support children with a development delay. They implement extensive intervention strategies and make excellent use of additional funding, in consultation with parents and carers. For example, they create home-learning activity packs and develop the wonderful nature area and community library.
• Children progress rapidly in their speech and literacy skills. Staff provide an environment rich in language. They foster children's love of songs, books and stories superbly, including through the use of props. Older children learn how a book is structured, create storyboards and collaboratively write and illustrate their own amazing story about a princess and a superhero.
• Staff create captivating storytelling spaces, wear a 'storytelling' hat and bring stories to life. They plan exciting linked activities that develop children's recall. For example, as older children create a treasure map, staff provide sticks and explain why pirates historically used such tools to sketch a map.
• Staff continuously develop children's early mathematical skills. They sing number rhymes and introduce concepts, such as floating and sinking. Children learn to weigh and measure while baking in the 'science' kitchen and count petals as they follow a recipe in the 'potion station'.
• Staff provide rich opportunities for children to learn about difference, for instance, through celebrations, role-play areas, books, displays and resources. Older children learn about a different country each month. They create a 'pre-school on tour' album containing amazing facts, drawings and photos.
• Children develop excellent core strength, balance, posture and coordination. Staff encourage babies and toddlers to negotiate wooden apparatus. Two-year-old children have immense fun practising pilates exercises. Older children carefully stack crates, transport heavy watering cans and engage in a 'well-being' stretch session. Children walk across tree stumps and a long log, steadying themselves with the thick dangling rope.
• Children develop precise hand-eye coordination and small muscle strength in readiness for early writing. For example, toddlers post items and turn the pages of tactile board books. Two-year-old children thread ribbons through colanders and mix and knead the scone mixture. Older children stretch elastic bands over boards and skilfully use cutlery.
• Children develop excellent independence. For example, they learn to put on their baker's hats and aprons and outdoor clothing. Staff encourage children to dish out lunch and readily access tissues from the 'well-being' station.
• Staff promote children's understanding of healthy practices superbly. For example, the nursery ethos 'from seed to plate' involves children harvesting food and eating hearty and homemade meals made by catering staff using locally sourced fresh ingredients.
• Staff work in excellent partnership with parents to settle children in, and to provide high levels of care and accelerate their learning. For example, they plan first-aid training, stay-and-play sessions and progress meetings, and provide home-learning initiatives and activity boxes.
• The provider's exemplary investment in staff's well-being, continued professional development and self-reflection, has a far-reaching impact on practice.