Casper Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children arrive with eager anticipation to begin their day at nursery, including those who have recently started. Staff create an atmosphere which is extremely calm, interesting and engaging for all children to enjoy.

Children benefit from trusting relationships with incredibly warm, caring and friendly staff. Children and staff joke and giggle, and they show a genuine affection and warmth for each other. Staff skilfully bring their playful nature into activities. For example, children squeal with excitement as they rush to correct staff when they say that there is an elephant on the cover of the storybook and not a bear as pictured. This approach draws children into activities, and they continually show a high level of engagement in their learning.

Children's behaviour is very impressive. They have excellent relationships with each other and social skills, which enables children of all ages to play cooperatively. For example, children independently discuss the game they want to play and organise their roles with ease. They listen intently to others, and all play an active role. This is a result of the carefully constructed curriculum. Staff place a high emphasis on children's personal, social and emotional development as a result of their observations of children following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

• Staff morale and well-being are very high. Staff feel extremely well supported by the manager, who is also the provider, and the strong team environment. Staff receive regular supervision and have the opportunity to attend training to extend their professional interests. They learn even more about how to support children's individual needs. All concerns raised at the last inspection have been fully addressed.
• Children relish the opportunity to take part in daily yoga sessions to support their well-being and physical development. For example, children listen intently as staff explain how to change the depth of their breathing. They learn how to blow out their pretend candle with a small puff of breath and fill their tummies like a balloon with a deep breath. Children later tell staff about how they use these techniques when they start to become frustrated and cross. Children become emotionally articulate and can recognise their feelings.
• Partnerships with parents are outstanding. Parents are extremely happy with the care and learning that their children receive. For example, staff recognise that their role includes support for the whole family in order to fully support each child to the highest level. Parents praise the individualised approach that staff offer to help their children settle and feel secure.
• Children's learning and personal achievements are at the forefront of staff discussions. Staff precisely observe children's development and have an excellent understanding of their learning needs. They have ongoing professional discussions and celebrate the skills that children have developed. As a result, children make swift progress in their learning and development from their individual starting points.
• Staff skilfully foster children's involvement in their own learning to the highest level. Children's views are highly respected, and staff help them to gain more confidence. For instance, staff help children to look at photos of past building structures to support children to extend on their own learning. Staff use these opportunities very well to model language to extend children's vocabulary. Children learn that because they made the structure higher it has 'imploded'.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities particularly benefit from staff's highly accurate observations of their development. Staff form excellent relationships with other professionals to gain a true understanding of children's individual needs. This helps them to ensure that the nursery is completely inclusive, and children of all abilities reach their full potential.
• Staff use daily experiences very well to incorporate a range of learning opportunities into their routines. For example, as children separate for key-person time, they count how many people are in each group and notice that the numbers are equal. Children enjoy washing up after snack and being involved in the daily risk assessment of the garden. Children develop a wide range of skills to help ensure that they are extremely well prepared for school.