Brave Church Nursery & Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a warm welcome from staff as they arrive with their parents and carers at nursery. Staff make time to talk and exchange information about children and their day. Staff are kind and caring. They are alert to children's emotional well-being. Older children immediately engage in play with their peers. They practise their physical skills, for example by dancing and climbing on indoor equipment. Babies are full of smiles as they explore their inspiring indoor learning environment. This helps children to settle very quickly.

The curriculum is designed to teach all children the skills that they will need to be successful in their next stage of learning. Staff work in partnership with parents to share information about each child in order to find out about their interests and recent successes. They carefully plan transitions to children's next stage of learning, which existing key persons support. Staff use assessments of each child's development to build on the skills that children already have.

Staff talk to children and praise them for their good behaviour. This motivates children to behave well and play together. Staff encourage all children to talk about their feelings. Children choose a corresponding character toy associated with how they feel. As children get older, they learn more vocabulary to articulate their emotions further. Children behave well because they understand the ethos of the nursery and the expectations set by staff.

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

• Leaders have excellent oversight and governance of the nursery. They are experienced and ensure that they are aware of the daily running of the nursery. This helps them to identify strengths and areas for improvement. Leaders of this inclusive nursery are passionate about their roles. Together, they strive to deliver high-quality care and education to all children at all times. The nursery provides children with experiences that underpin its Christian ethos and values into everyday practice effectively.
• Staff gather information about children's development when they first begin at the setting. They use this knowledge to establish children's starting points and create next steps in learning. However, at times, staff do not always identify children's individual and unique learning needs promptly. Consequently, on occasion, they do not always tailor the curriculum to support all children and extend their learning further.
• Staff provide children with a good balance of adult-led and child-initiated play. They know what they want children to learn from planned activities. Staff place a focus on weaving traditional tales throughout the setting. For example, children recall events and phrases from these stories and use them in their play.
• Children fill and empty different-sized bowls with porridge oats as they read the story of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'. This helps children to develop important skills while they foster a love of books.
• Leaders know their staff very well. Staff attend training around their interests and development needs to improve their already good knowledge and skills. Leaders ensure that all staff have a thorough induction when they start working at the nursery. This ensures that all staff have time to learn their roles. Leaders provide supervision sessions for staff that enable them to set targets linked to their personal and professional development. Staff are very happy in their roles. They speak highly of leaders and comment on the excellent levels of support they receive.
• Staff form good relationships with parents. They keep parents well informed about children's progress. Staff speak to them at the start and end of the day. They provide information about their child's learning, care routines and development, which they also share via an app. Staff complete accident and injury forms accurately in a timely manner via an app for parents to acknowledge. Staff also take action to prevent a recurrence of accidents.
• Staff have a sharp focus on children's speech and language development. Babies enjoy short and focused activities, where they interact with picture books. They lift the cover to reveal the object on the page and feel the sensory materials within books. Staff read stories with enthusiasm and pause at familiar refrains to allow children to babble and talk. Children listen intently and smile as they move to turn pages and clap their hands. As a result, babies learn basic conversational skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to identify children's individual and unique learning needs promptly and tailor the curriculum more effectively to help enhance the learning experiences of all children.