Charnwood Nursery & Pre-School (Rothley)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy joining in activities with staff. For example, staff ask children in the baby and toddler rooms to use their imagination and pretend to be on a boat. They sit on staff's knee and when they pretend to capsize, children and staff roll onto the floor, smiling and laughing together. Children have opportunities to develop a sense of responsibility. For example, staff ask children in the pre-school room help to set tables for lunch, putting cups on tables for their friends. Children in the toddler room help staff to pick up rice off the floor after lunchtime and put it in the bin. They receive praise from staff for helping, encouraging them to repeat this positive behaviour.

Children in the pre-school room are encouraged to develop an imagination. For example, staff pretend to hold a ball and ask children if they would like her to throw or bounce it to them. Children make choices and pretend to catch the ball and then pass it to their friends. Children in the toddler room have opportunities to be creative and explore musical instruments. They copy staff to shake objects, listening to the sound it makes. Staff say, 'Shake, shake, shake' when children do this, using repetitive language to help support their early speaking skills. Children learn about how they can keep themselves safe. For example, staff help them to learn about internet safety and keeping their bodies private.

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

• The manager and staff place a strong focus on supporting children's communication skills. This is because gaps were identified in this aspect of children's learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, staff use sign language when they communicate with children to support their understanding of spoken words. Staff ask older children a good range of questions to help encourage their thinking skills. This helps to close gaps in their development.
• Staff say they feel supported in their practice and with their well-being. The manager provides supervision meetings for staff to enable them to reflect on their practice. Staff attend training to help support themselves and their colleagues to build on and monitor children's communication skills.
• Staff provide children with small-group times to focus on their social communication skills. For example, children learn to share, communicate their needs and follow a routine. However, occasionally during some activities, staff do not adapt their interactions with children when there is a mixed-age group in the pre-school room. This results in the younger children not fully benefitting from the learning experiences offered.
• Staff encourage children to be independent. For example, children in the pre-school room are asked to help prepare snacks for their friends. They pour their drinks and serve their own food. In the baby room, children have cups that show their photo, encouraging them to recognise which is theirs.
• Staff plan activities for children to be physically active. This includes helping them to learn ball skills, such as kicking a ball to help develop their balance and coordination. However, when children in the baby and toddler rooms show an interest in being physically active during self-chosen play, staff do not identify and support them to follow their interests.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well by staff. Additional funding that some children receive is used effectively to provide one-to-one support from staff to meet their individual needs and support their emotional well-being during transitions, when they move on to school.
• The manager and staff plan experiences to broaden children's knowledge of the local community. For example, they take them for forest sessions in woods to help children learn about nature. Staff help children learn about fire safety and how to use tools safety.
• Parents comment positively about the experiences their children receive at the nursery. They explain how their children borrow books from the nursery and how this encourages them to ask to go to the library with parents to help develop their love of books further.
• Staff have rules and boundaries in place, such as to use kind hands. Staff model using kind hands for children to copy, and when they do this, staff reward them by giving them praise. This helps children to understand staff's expectations for their behaviour.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to adapt their interactions in the pre-school room during activities to meet the learning needs of the younger children more precisely
• strengthen staff's ability to identify and help children in the baby and toddler rooms to follow their interests when they want to be physically active during their self-chosen play.