Chapelford Village Nursery And Lets Be Kids Out of School Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery happy and smiling, and they settle very quickly. They are eager to play with a rich variety of exciting resources that keep them highly motivated and interested in learning. Caring staff make sure children feel very secure and safe as they learn. Children enjoy exploring the free-flow outdoor space with their friends throughout the day. Children have impeccable manners and know the routines exceptionally well. The children are respectful and kind to each other and younger children play with older children extremely well. They listen attentively to instructions and display perseverance and self-control as they learn to put on their own coats for outdoor play.

Children enjoy spending time in the quiet room, sharing stories with each other, and they work together to make exciting dens. Staff support children's communication and language skills, modelling sounds and words for young children to copy. The staff know the children well and they understand what they need to learn next. However, the curriculum is not yet well planned enough to support children to achieve their next learning steps quickly. The children have wonderfully curious minds about the world around them, especially when finding out about nature and the environment. The staff are held in very high regard by parents, who are keen to recommend the nursery to others.

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

• Wonderful outdoor learning spaces and plentiful resources allow children to play and explore with curious minds. For example, children use the available natural materials to build bridges and platforms to practise balance skills.
• Children are exceptionally confident and highly motivated learners. They are able to self-select resources and eagerly share these with each other. The youngest children go to the cupboard for paper and pens and practise their emerging writing skills by making marks on the paper. Children take pride in their achievements, sharing their pictures with staff and each other. Staff support all children to succeed.
• Children know and understand what is expected of them. Children learn about friendships, responsibility and including others. Children constantly display affection to each other, showing they are developing high levels of emotional intelligence.
• Staff provide opportunities to extend the children's vocabulary. Children begin to develop an understanding of more complex words, such as 'cocoon'. During an activity, children were able to discuss the meaning of the word cocoon. One child said, 'The caterpillar needs the cocoon to grow to be a butterfly'. Staff support children to experience moments of awe and wonder. The children cheered and clapped as they released the fully grown butterflies into the trees outside.
• The special educational needs coordinator works closely with the staff team, health professionals and parents to meet children's individual needs. Additional funding is well spent to provide children with resources needed for them to achieve the best possible outcomes.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents report that their children are ready for school and confident. They appreciate the many ways in which staff keep them informed and involved in the life of the nursery. Parents spoke about how the staff had kept them included in their child's learning needs during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. One parent described the nursery as a 'home from home' where staff understood their child's fears of returning to nursery after a national lockdown.
• Children have been supported by staff to develop a love of reading and sharing stories. Children are always eager to use props and puppets to enhance the stories. Children speak with confidence and fluency when discussing what food they liked while reading 'The Hungry Caterpillar'. However, too few opportunities are introduced for children to talk about and understand the diversity of families and communities.
• The newly appointed manager is eager to further develop their own professional practice to support the growing aspirations for the nursery. The manager leads a team of staff in a new shared vision and the staff state that they feel very well supported by their manager. However, staff are not fully supported to plan the curriculum intent to guide what children need to learn next. Staff's professional development is discussed at supervision sessions and new, exciting learning opportunities are identified.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve upon staff's professional development and practice so that they fully understand and are able to plan the curriculum intent so that the learning is sequenced for all children
• extend opportunities for raising children's awareness of similarities and differences with regard to different families and cultures.