Castle Nursery at parkside

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Upon arrival, children receive the warmest welcome from staff. They build incredibly close bonds with their key persons, who understand their needs extremely well. This helps children to feel safe and valued. Children are very happy as they play alongside one another. They develop respect for others and their environment. They follow simple instructions. For example, they help staff to tidy away toys and resources.

Children are eager to explore the indoor and outdoor environments, which are designed specifically for them. They are becoming increasingly independent. They show great self-control as they pour water into their cups. They receive lots of praise and encouragement from staff. This supports their confidence and willingness to learn new skills.

Children benefit from a lovely range of exciting activities that supports their development. Babies demonstrate high levels of natural curiosity as they explore shredded paper. Toddlers are very imaginative. They create a 'birthday cake', using play dough and pretend to blow the candles out. Children in pre-school have great fun as they plant seeds and water them to help them grow. As a result, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and those who speak dual languages make good progress from their starting points.

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

• Staff continually observe children and monitor their progress to identify any gaps in learning. As a result, children's communication, language and literacy skills are developing well, including those with speech delay. Children display a love of reading from an early age. Toddlers independently access books in their outdoor environment. Staff provide babies with a narrative of what is happening during their play and repeat the sounds they make. Staff supporting pre-school children introduce new vocabulary, such as 'ginormous', as children discuss the size of their sandcastle. Children demonstrate the broad range of words they know as they sing familiar nursery rhymes and songs.
• Leaders place high priority on staff well-being. The long-standing and friendly staff team comment that they are happy at work and feel well supported in their roles. Staff benefit from regular supervision meetings with leaders. Although, there is scope to further develop the supervision and mentoring that staff receive to elevate their teaching skills to an even higher level.
• The curriculum is broad and well-sequenced. Staff consider children's interests and build on what they already know and can do. For instance, during water play, staff encourage children to explore capacity and discuss quantities as they fill and empty containers. This helps children stay fully focused during their play.
• However, staff do not always adapt their teaching for the most-able children during activities to build on their skills even further. This means that, occasionally, some children are not fully challenged during their learning.
• Staff empower children to do things for themselves and manage small tasks. For example, children confidently count that there are six children in the outdoor environment. They excitedly join their peers outside as they understand that there can be up to eight children in the garden, so they have enough space to play. In turn, children demonstrate a can-do attitude and take pride in their achievements.
• Children behave extremely well. They reinforce the 'golden rules' of the setting to one another. Staff are successful in teaching children to recognise and manage their emotions. They share these strategies with parents to promote continuity in children's development.
• Partnership working is strong. Staff get to know families extremely well. They find out key information about children's interests and routines to effectively support their needs. Parents speak very highly of the experiences their children receive. Staff work closely with a wide range of professionals and local settings to support children's learning and early years experiences.
• Children are developing a good understanding of healthy lifestyles. They benefit from regular exercise and fresh air throughout the day. Staff provide children with a range of nutritional snacks and meals. Children sit in small groups for mealtimes, where staff encourage them to explore and taste a variety of foods.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consistently adapt teaching to ensure all children, particularly those most able, are challenged to the highest level during activities
• further strengthen the supervision, coaching and mentoring of staff to focus even more precisely on enhancing the already good teaching.