Charlie Bear's Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children make outstanding progress in their learning and development. Staff have a comprehensive understanding of each child's learning needs and high expectations for what they can achieve. Staff expertly plan and provide a range of exciting and stimulating activities and opportunities. These successfully encourage children to engage, be curious and inquisitive in their play, showing extreme motivation to learn. Throughout the nursery, children are engrossed in experiences that fully capture their imaginations. They laugh excitedly with friends as they dance and reach to catch bubbles and as they jump in puddles. Young children marvel at the different sized splashes they create by throwing items into water.

Staff interact superbly with all children. As a result, children develop wonderful social skills. They eagerly share experiences with others, such as showing their friends when the snail is 'hiding' in its shell. All children learn to be incredibly respectful and show enormous kindness to each other. Staff are extremely supportive to children who become upset or require additional guidance. Children are highly creative, and they express themselves tremendously well. For example, a group of children giggle with excitement during an art activity, during which they confidently share ideas, learn to mix colours and chat about the differences in their artwork from using various sized cars. They enthusiastically extend the activity, relishing with absolute delight in turning the activity into finger and hand painting and painting their own arms and faces. Throughout, the activity, staff use excellent skills and language to extend and enhance children's learning.

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

• Staff know all children exceedingly well. They have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of each and every child's development, and they use meticulous ongoing assessments to precisely identify what children need to learn next. All children make outstanding progress from their starting points.
• Staff provide extensive support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and children whose first language is not English. They truly understand how long children will focus on an activity and quickly identify when they need to engage children with SEND in a different way. Staff use clear words and phrases, along with visual prompts, to help children progress very effectively. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works very closely with the children, the parents and the children's key person to put in place precisely tailored and achievable targets for children to work towards. They monitor each child's progress extremely closely and make prompt referrals to external agencies and professionals, allowing children to gain any extra support they need.
• Staff provide excellent mathematical and literacy opportunities. They include frequent counting and number recognition opportunities as part of the daily routines. For example, children become totally engaged and concentrate for a long period of time while using programmable toys. They readily use mathematical language and demonstrate impressive problem-solving skills as they programme robots to move. Children have exceptional opportunities to 'write', read, share books and sing songs.
• Children thrive in the outdoor area. They develop superb independence and physical skills. Staff make superb use of outdoor areas to ignite and fan children's fascination with nature. For example, when they find snails, children show great respect exploring their shell patterns and watching them move before carefully carrying them to a place of safety. Staff use their excellent questioning skills and quality interactions to help children learn about living things.
• Staff keep parents fully up to date with their children's learning and give excellent support and guidance when appropriate. Parents are extremely complimentary about the 'amazing' staff and the nursery and the knowledge and relationship staff have with their children.
• The inspirational manager is dedicated to developing an outstanding staff team and nursery. She strongly encourages all staff to access training and personal development, and she highly motivates all staff. Leaders ensure that staff have access to excellent well-being support, and staff tell the inspector that they feel extremely valued and listened to and that the manager inspires them to try new things and develop their own skills and knowledge. Highly reflective self-evaluation accurately helps target improvements and shape the outstanding service that is provided.