Cherubs Edwinstowe

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy attending this exceptionally well-resourced and calming nursery. They enter full of joy to see the staff. Babies hold out their arms as a greeting. Toddlers run into the arms of staff. Pre-school children engage straight away, playing with and exploring the available activities. Staff take a great interest in the children and offer them lots of attention to keep them very happy and safe. Children engage in an array of interesting, investigative activities. For example, indoors, they explore blocks of ice with natural autumn objects encased in them. Children use good hand-to-eye coordination when they suck up water into pipettes. They drizzle water on the ice to try to melt it. Staff introduce new vocabulary as children play, such as 'defrost'. This contributes to children learning new words.

Children have super opportunities to explore outdoors in the local forest, and exercise their large muscles. They are determined to climb trees, taking one step at a time. Staff have high expectations of what children can achieve and allow them the time to persevere until they succeed. Children behave well. They take great pride in playing an active part of the daily routines. Children help to give out the plates and cups for snack and lunch to their friends, who say 'thank you'.

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

• The provider and her management team have high ambition for the nursery. Staff morale is high and they speak positively of the support they receive from the management team.
• The manager and staff are clear about the things they want children to learn, depending on their age and stage of development. They plan and sequence a curriculum and environment that are exciting and unique. For example, babies explore a crinkly blanket as they lay on their tummy to develop their core strength. Older children who are beginning to develop their small-muscle skills become engrossed in creating hedgehogs with dough and spaghetti.
• All staff have an in-depth knowledge of each individual child's capabilities. The room leaders in the baby room and the toddler/pre-school room demonstrate outstanding teaching. They motivate children through their inspirational interactions and help them to remain highly engaged in activities. However, occasionally, less-confident and less-experienced staff miss opportunities to inspire children to build on what they already know and can do. For example, they interact with children, but this can be limited and the children wander off.
• There is a strong emphasis on harnessing the outdoor environment in the nursery's curriculum. For example, staff in the baby room make good use of the available resources outdoors to help babies learn to walk. Babies who are beginning to take their first steps are supported by staff to move from one area to another by holding staff's hands. This results in babies being confident to move under their own steam, holding on to items to cruise from one place to another.
• Staff plan experiences to help enrich children's lives and broaden their knowledge and understanding of the wider world. For example, children use technology to reach out and stay in touch with the local nursing home residents. Furthermore, children visit a local field to harvest onions and watch the tractor in action.
• Partnerships with parents are excellent. Parents comment that they are extremely happy with the regular communication they receive. They are thrilled with the progress their children are making. Parents praise the setting for helping to develop their children's confidence with other children and adults.
• Staff place high priority on developing children's listening and attention skills. Babies listen to stories and join in with songs and rhymes. Toddlers engage with stories that relate to their current home situations, such as preparing for the birth of a sibling.
• Staff support children to understand what constitutes a balanced diet with a menu that is carefully thought out and inspired by different cultures. Children thoroughly enjoy a vegetable wellington for lunch, asking for seconds. Staff talk to the children about the ingredients that has gone into their carefully chosen meal. This helps to promote a healthy lifestyle, relating specifically to healthy eating.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• raise staff's confidence and understanding of how to fully extend and inspire children's learning during activities.