Christchurch Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and are keen to come into the nursery. They are warmly welcomed by the friendly and nurturing staff. Children who are new to setting and are initially upset, settle quickly and soon engage in play. Children are excited to see the door to the outside area is open and immediately move outdoors to play and learn. Dressing up is currently a favourite activity of the children. They pretend to be superheroes, firefighters and doctors. Children take resources from the inside to the garden and this helps to extend their imaginative play.

Staff take children's interests and learning needs into consideration as they devise and implement the curriculum. They are aware of the wide divide between the younger two-year olds and the school leavers and adapt their teaching as necessary. For example, they provide more structured opportunities for older children to practise writing their names and learning about letter sounds. All children are learning how to do things for themselves. They have snack when they are ready and are pleased to pour their own drinks. Children play cooperatively, they listen to and respect staff. Children's behaviour throughout the nursery is good.

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

• Staff gain useful information about children when they start to attend the nursery. They complete observations and assessments to identify what children already know and where they require more support. Staff use their gathered information to help develop next steps for the children to achieve. Where concerns are raised about a child's development, staff work well in partnership with parents and other professionals. This helps to ensure these children receive early intervention.
• Children are developing strong communication and language skills. Staff position themselves in the book area and share stories with children throughout the day. Children enjoy listening to these stories and engage in meaningful conversations and discussions. Staff support children who speak English as an additional language well. They take the time to get to know some words in their home language and use these to aid communication. These children make rapid progress and show they understand humour and use intonation correctly, such as when expressing different emotions.
• Parents speak very highly about the care and education their children receive. They say staff nurture children and this helps them to feel valued. Staff regularly share information with parents to keep them informed about their child's day and development. This helps parents to understand how they can support their child's learning at home.
• Singing times are highly enjoyed by all children. They join in with actions and dancing, as they sing with great enthusiasm. Staff take an active part and they and the children have fun together. It is evident, at times such as this, that staff and children share close attachments.
• The staff team is very well established. They work effectively together and show enthusiasm and commitment to their role. Overall, they interact well with children and are skilful at responding to them during play to build on the learning they observe. However, at some other times, staff do too much for children, such as providing pre-cut shapes and directing children where to put them as they make Father's Day cards. Although children comply through these times, they are not given time to implement their own ideas and develop their creativity.
• The provider has a clear vision for continual improvement. This includes reflecting on the new nursery environment to make sure it is an effective learning tool. The provider is aware that the continuous professional development of her staff is an area she wants to improve. However, she does not use discussions with staff, such as in supervision meetings, regularly enough. Consequently, there is not a sharp enough focus on each staff member's ongoing development needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review teaching and learning offered through adult planned activities to help children to use their own ideas as they develop their creativity
• enhance the arrangements for staff supervision, in order to tailor professional development opportunities to their individual needs, to help raise the quality of teaching to the highest possible level.