Colets Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children at the nursery are calm and well behaved. They benefit from the careful planning that staff do, which builds on what children already know. For instance, children participate in a circle time activity where they share their knowledge of the nativity story. They listen to others and wait their turn to contribute. Children also like listening to the stories that staff read to them. They listen intently and look at the pictures in the book. Children share their thoughts about the story, and staff acknowledge what they have said. This demonstrates that staff value children's voices, and children have a positive attitude to learning.

During the day, children enjoy opportunities to play outside. As they walk across the frosty grass, staff encourage children to notice how it feels. They talk about the texture of the grass and this helps to extend children's vocabulary. Staff provide children with bats and balls to play with. They display high levels of curiosity and engagement as they throw the balls up in the air, kick them with their feet and balance them on the bats. Other children enjoy finding pinecones underneath a tree, which they readily share with staff. This shows that children are inquisitive and eager to learn. Staff praise children appropriately throughout their activity, which helps to promote good behaviour.

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

• The newly appointed leaders set high expectations for staff to provide good-quality care and education. They regularly review staff practice to improve teaching standards. This includes identifying training needs through regular supervision sessions and providing staff with effective feedback from the manager's observations of their practice. This helps to give children a good start in their learning and development.
• The manager has adopted a child-centred approach, which is communicated to staff and implemented in daily practice. For example, staff plan activities based on the children's interest in recognising their own names. Children eagerly say the letters and sounds they know. Staff support them to identify new letters, and they enjoy gaining this new information. Staff offer children an extra challenge of learning the letters and sounds in their friends' names, and they readily participate in this additional activity. This shows that staff are able to build on what children already know, to extend their learning.
• Leaders want children to become more independent in order to prepare them for when they start school. However, sometimes, staff are not consistent in their approach to implement this. For instance, they do not encourage children to find and put on their own shoes. Therefore, staff do not always support children to develop their independence skills.
• Staff supervise the children effectively, and they have good strategies in place to manage their behaviour. For example, some children enjoy running and throwing, so staff adapt these activities to make them safe. Staff draw running spots on the floor for children to run in, and they give children buckets for them to throw objects into. This enables children to pursue their interests safely, reducing the risk of harm to themselves and others.
• Parents say that they are happy with the nursery and that the new leaders have made some really positive changes. They enjoy the organised social events, and these help them to build good relationships with the staff. Parents are kept updated about their child's progress and how to support their learning at home through the parent app and termly meetings. However, some parents would like more opportunities to speak to their child's key person.
• The manager seeks to extend the range of experiences that children have access to. She invites parents into the nursery to read and play instruments with the children. They also visit the local park, farm and school. The manager has ambitious plans to extend these experiences further, introducing a forest school and taking children to the local care home to meet the residents, for example. This shows that the manager has a clear understanding of how these experiences can help children to achieve better outcomes.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support and encourage children to develop their independence skills so that they are prepared for their next stage of learning
• provide more regular opportunities for parents to speak to their child's key person.