Clarence House March

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this nursery. They show good levels of engagement in their chosen activities. Children are confident to share their explorations and play with staff. They have plenty of opportunities to explore why things happen and speculate what may happen next. For instance, they benefit from staff's skilful interactions that help them to ponder and consider the effects of water on plastic bricks when they become 'slippery'.

Children listen to staff and behave well. They learn to take turns and share from an early age. Children show respect towards each other and the environment. For example, they confidently negotiate the outdoor space using balance bicycles, taking care not to disrupt their friends' play. Children are willing helpers when it is tidy-up time. Babies are calm and settled. Staff ensure their individual needs are promptly met. Babies have plenty of space to explore and safely practise their developing physical skills. Children build good communication skills from the start. Babies confidently babble and staff repeat sounds and words back to them, building the foundations for conversation. Children join in with songs and show good levels of attention as they listen to stories.

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

• Leaders have worked closely with the local authority since the last inspection to improve children's experiences at the nursery. This has helped to establish a clear curriculum that helps children build on what they know and can do. Staff understand the curriculum well. They blend child-led activities with insightful interactions that help to extend children's learning effectively.
• Staff follow children's lead in play and sensitively join in to help build their skills and knowledge. For example, when children choose to play with bats and balls outside, staff help them to develop hand-to-eye coordination and catch a ball when thrown to them.
• Children are keen to do things for themselves. Staff ensure that children have plenty of opportunities to practise new skills over time. This helps children develop independence, for example, in managing their toilet needs, serving food, pouring drinks and putting on their coats and shoes. This also helps to build good levels of self-esteem.
• Staff provide children with a wide range of books that children freely choose from. They are committed to helping children build a love of books and reading. Children go on regular trips to the library with staff and help to choose books to take back to the nursery.
• Staff work well together as a team. They say they enjoy working at the nursery and feel well supported to fulfil their roles. Staff benefit from regular supervision meetings that help to develop and improve their knowledge and skills.
• Parents are very positive about the nursery and staff. They state that they believe their children are safe and well cared for. They add that they know what their child needs to learn next and what they can do to help at home. Parents notice the progress their children make, particularly in their growing confidence and communication skills.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Staff work well with parents and other professionals to adapt practice and the environment to meet children's specific needs. The manager works sensitively with parents to help them navigate the pathways to receive the professional support their child is entitled to.
• Leaders quickly identify children who may be at risk of falling behind their peers. They make effective use of additional funds children may receive to help them catch up and continue to build good attitudes to learning.
• Staff talk to children as they play. They ask questions and introduce words to help children build a wide vocabulary. However, the programme of phonics that staff follow for older pre-school children is not used by all schools that children will move to. In addition, staff tend to overstate the sounds that letters represent. This creates confusion for some children and is not helpful in supporting children's readiness for school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance partnership working with the schools that children will move on to and help children build the knowledge and skills they need for future learning.