Charters Ancaster Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this exceptional nursery. Staff fully respect, welcome and celebrate every child's unique characteristics and personality. Children are highly motivated to learn. They develop an immense thirst for knowledge. They ask questions and show real enthusiasm for learning. Staff inspire them every day to try their best. Babies form exceptionally close attachments to staff. The highly professional staff team means children know the adults who look after them well and are extremely comfortable in their care. Children gain a wealth of skills, which help them to be ready for future learning and starting school. They are exceptionally confident, behave very well, form close and trusting friendships with others, and are curious to find new ways of doing things.

Staff meticulously plan all activities, including those which take place outside. They are highly vigilant and teach children the importance of managing risks and learning how to do things safely. For example, when children use the woodland area, they know exactly how to use real tools safely as they have learned how to do this from a young age. They climb trees and confidently make decisions to climb to a level they feel safe at.

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

• The nursery manager is highly respected by both staff and parents. She is dynamic in her approach to managing the nursery and works tirelessly with her team to deliver the highest quality standards. She leads by example and empowers her staff to make changes to nursery practice based on the latest research. For example, staff recently thoroughly reviewed the presentation of displays and the resources children use. This has significantly enhanced the learning environment and improved children's concentration and interest in activities.
• Funding is used extremely well to support every child's learning needs. Additional staff are always available for children who may need extra help with their learning. As a result, children have plenty of individual attention and their learning needs are continually planned for.
• Staff respond quickly to children's changing needs. After lockdown, some children needed extra support in developing their communication skills. Staff worked closely with parents and a speech and language therapist. As a result, children made rapid progress and any gaps in their learning were closed quickly.
• The curriculum is extremely well planned. It runs seamlessly through the age groups, allowing children to build and extend their skills. Staff precisely assess what children can do and meticulously plan for what they need to learn next. The extensive outside areas are used particularly well to enrich children's learning.
• Staff know exactly what children like and their interests and plan for this accordingly. For example, children experimented with fruit and herbal tea leaves, and pretended to make their own tea. Children enthusiastically explored the fruit kernels, trying to identify the different fruits they could smell.
• Children's behaviour is impeccable. They are kind, courteous, polite and respectful. The atmosphere in all areas of the nursery is calm and peaceful as children are busy and positively engaged. Children make their own 'rules', with instructions such as 'talk nicely' and 'kind hands', and consistently manage their own, and their friends' behaviour. Children remind each other of the rules when needed.
• Children make outstanding progress from their starting points. Teaching is consistently of the highest quality across the nursery. Staff are highly skilled, with a good number qualified to degree level. They hold an impressive range of talents and are highly dedicated to the children. For example, one staff member told the story of 'The Three Bears' to younger children without the need for a book or props. She used her imagination, creativity and expression to recall the story. Children were totally captivated and delighted.
• Parents describe the nursery as 'brilliant' and 'amazing'. They highly commend the staff and praise the way in which their children quickly settle and are so happy. Despite the restrictions of COVID-19 (coronavirus), staff have used innovative ways to keep parents fully informed about what their children are doing at nursery and their progress.