Cherrytree Nursery School - Kingsnorth Rd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, safe, secure and enjoy their time at the nursery. They settle quickly here as staff get to know families and their routines well. Children have developed warm and trusting bonds with their key person and the staff team. They are confident and self-assured. For example, younger children confidently choose activities that they would like to do from the range of resources that are carefully selected by staff to support their development. Older children play cooperatively together and confidently negotiate their ideas during their play and exploration. Children learn a wide range of skills, which prepares them well for school.

Children show good physical skills. They explore different ways of moving, such as balancing, running, jumping and hopping. Children are provided with a wide range of opportunities to extend their physical development, both indoors and outside, in the exciting nursery garden. For instance, young children learn to balance on stepping-stones and crawl through tunnels while carefully navigating around others to keep themselves safe. Older children know how to prepare themselves effectively with coats and wellington boots to enjoy jumping in muddy puddles in the rain.

Children behave well and enjoy the company of others. Staff are good role models and provide positive praise to help the children gain a sense of achievement and boost their self-esteem.

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

• The management and staff work together to plan a broad curriculum. Staff carefully follow children's interests and use information from observations and assessments to plan activities. However, sometimes, when planning specific activities, staff introduce too many ideas for the teaching to be fully effective.
• Staff have high expectations, and children are motivated in their learning. Staff place a strong focus on developing children's communication and language skills. For instance, they talk clearly to the children and clearly emphasise keywords within their interactions, to help enhance children's understanding and speaking skills. Staff also use some signing to help children make choices, understand routines and express their needs, particularly children who speak English as an additional language.
• Staff encourage children's mathematical development effectively. Children are encouraged to regularly use mathematical language in their play. They confidently count and identify numbers in sequence as they play.
• Children with special education needs and/or disabilities are supported well and staff work effectively in partnership with other professionals. Staff follow advice received from professionals to close any gaps in learning a child may have. They use additional funding well to support children's learning. All children make good progress in their development.
• Staff help children develop a love of books. For example, children choose books to take home and share with their families, and have cosy spaces within the setting to relax in and read books. This supports children's early literacy skills well.
• Regular self-evaluation and effective teamworking contribute to a well-organised provision. There are good opportunities for staff's professional development. For example, training is focused to meet the needs of children and the interests of staff, to ensure children receive tailored and meaningful teaching and learning. Staff are effectively deployed so that children are supervised and safe. Leaders engage with staff to support them in daily tasks and are aware of the daily pressures on them. This helps to create a happy and positive work environment.
• The provider and staff members develop and maintain strong parent partnerships. New parents are happy that their children quickly feel secure and settled. Parents are kept up to date with the activities children have accessed each day through a daily communication book. However, occasionally, staff do not share enough information with parents. There are times when parents are not always clear about their children's progress and development.
• Children learn about what makes them unique. Staff support them to understand similarities and differences between themselves and others. Children learn about different cultures, celebrations and ways of life different to their own. This supports children to understand the world around them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to more precisely implement what they want children to learn from planned activities, to focus teaching more effectively
• enhance systems for sharing information with parents about their children's learning and development.