Chestnut @ Sewell Park

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time in the warm and friendly nursery. On arrival, they settle quickly and busily engage in activities, playing with their friends and staff. Children and staff safely greet each other at the entrance with genuine enthusiasm. Babies benefit from a calm and nurturing environment, where they build their confidence and start to explore. They delight in taking part in stimulating activities, such as transporting sand and exploring its texture. Parents report that staff are endlessly patient when supporting them to separate from their children as they settle into the nursery. Parents universally report that their children are very happy.

There are high expectations for children's behaviour and learning. Staff unfailingly model positive behaviours, consequently, children are polite and well mannered. They are curious and confidently approach staff and visitors to engage in conversations. They demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. Children are happy and play cooperatively with their friends, acting out their experiences, such as the recent 'graduation ceremony'. Children make friendships which are nurtured by staff. Those children who will be attending the same school are grouped together at mealtimes to encourage friendships that will support their move to school.

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

• Leaders and managers recognise the additional pressures for staff due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. They have a strong focus on supporting staff well-being. The manager has qualified as a mental health first aider and uses what she has learned to support staff, who report feeling valued and nurtured.
• Staff's relationships with parents are very strong. They provide useful information for parents that helps them to support their children's continued development at home. For instance, staff promote a consistent approach between home and nursery when children are toilet training. This supports children's success.
• Staff set clear expectations for children's behaviour. However, they miss opportunities to teach children to understand why certain behaviours are necessary. They do not always teach children to judge risks and learn to manage their own behaviour. For example, children are reminded to pause at the top of the slide so that staff can make sure it is safe for them to descend. However, they do not explain to children the purpose of this pause. This means that children do not always learn how to assess situations for themselves.
• Staff gather useful information from parents before children start at the nursery. They find out about babies' care routines and special words, including key words for children learning to speak English as an additional language. Staff pay close attention to babies' non-verbal cues and use key words to support babies to grow in confidence as they develop their speaking and listening skills.
• Staff regularly assess what children know and can do. They plan activities and experiences across all areas of learning that interest and engage the children. However, sometimes staff are too quick to answer their own questions and offer solutions before children have the chance to consider their response. This means that children do not always have the opportunity to develop and test out their own ideas.
• Staff work with other professionals, such as speech and language therapists, to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. When children are preparing to move to school, staff take part in multi-agency virtual meetings to ensure that teachers understand children's needs as they progress to the next stage in their education.
• Additional funding is used to support children well. Staff recognise that some children, including those who learn best outdoors, have had restricted opportunities to experience the outdoors. The manager uses additional funding to develop the stimulating outdoor area so that children can thrive in their preferred learning environment.
• Staff use mathematical language with the children in their play. They encourage children to notice shapes and sizes and to count objects throughout the day.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff skills further so that they consistently teach children how to manage their own behaviours and learn to judge risks for themselves
• strengthen teaching so that all staff consistently give children time during activities to form and explore their own ideas and deepen their understanding.