Chairbears Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at nursery enthusiastic and eager to learn. They are extremely familiar with the daily routines and settle in confidently. Staff are dedicated and create a highly nurturing and friendly environment. This helps children to feel emotionally secure and safe. All children form very strong attachments with their key person. Staff are sensitive and caring and respond to younger children's needs quickly. For example, they gently direct and encourage children with runny noses to the 'nose-wiping station'. Children understand about the importance of self-hygiene and stopping germs from spreading.

Children benefit from accessing a vast amount of activities that stimulate their inquisitive minds. For example, children use fresh ingredients to make lemonade by following instructions. Staff then serve this at lunchtime for all children to enjoy. They enable children to explore and enhance their skills based on their current stage of development. Children initiate their own play and easily access resources to make choices. They select what they are interested in independently.

Staff model exemplary conduct. They have exceptionally high expectations for children's behaviour and what they can achieve. Children are very polite and courteous. They take care of themselves and each other, building strong relationships with their peers. Children share extremely well and play cooperatively.

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

• All children are confident, independent and attentive learners. They learn to take responsibility for their actions and the environment. Children demonstrate exceptional levels of maturity in their interactions with others. Their behaviour is remarkable. Children learn to be respectful of each other and people in the community. For example, they actively take part in charity work to help people who are vulnerable in their local community.
• Staff are knowledgeable and expertly plan an educational programme that is bespoke to individual children's needs and next steps in learning. Key persons use their knowledge of what their key children already know, can do and need to learn next. This ensures that they extend children's learning.
• The managers promote an outstanding culture of continuous improvement. They monitor staff's performance and identify areas of development in their practice. The managers provide exceptional support to enhance staff's skills and knowledge through coaching, mentoring and additional staff training. This enables staff to provide high-quality care and learning. For instance, there is a 'buddy system', which is used to enable more-experienced staff to develop newer staff's practice. Staff speak positively of the supportive managers. They are complimentary of the continuous development programme that is available for them.
• Children enjoy healthy and nutritious meals that are freshly prepared by the in-house chef. Staff promote children's knowledge and understanding of healthy eating habits through discussion and activities. Staff also teach children about other children's allergies and dietary requirements. This helps children to build their understanding and respect. For example, children know that some children do not eat beef because of their religious beliefs.
• Staff constantly praise children's achievements. Children display high levels of confidence and independence. They work cooperatively to tidy up. For instance, when staff sing the tidy-up song, children collectively sweep the sand from the floor. They also work well to set the table up for lunchtime. They count the number of places and the cutlery and cups that need to be set up.
• Managers and staff develop outstanding partnership with parents. Parents enthusiastically compliment the exceptional support that their children receive from highly skilled staff and managers. For instance, they comment on the way key persons develop their child's independence skills and facilitate excellent progress in their learning and development. Parents welcome the daily updates and consistent communication that they receive from staff to continue to support their children's development at home.
• Staff enhance children's language skills by introducing them to new vocabulary and its meaning. They also work in partnership with parents by using children's home languages to develop their understanding of English. All staff value the importance of reading books, providing a commentary to babies during their play and singing nursery rhymes and songs to develop children's communication and language skills.