Combe Down Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, settle well and are confident in this inclusive nursery. They are eager to get involved in the range of stimulating activities on offer. Children show good concentration and enthusiasm during activities and in their play. Staff pay attention to children's individual interests and extend these interests well. For example, staff arrange visits from the local museum staff for children with an interest in fossils. Children are fascinated as they explore a fossil. They are inquisitive and ask questions, which staff answer well to deepen children's knowledge.

Children build warm and positive bonds with staff, who get to know the children well. Individual key-person relationships are strong. Staff are good role models. They have high expectations of children's behaviour. All children behave well and learn positive social skills during their time at the nursery. For example, from a young age they say 'please' and 'thank you' as they share resources and toys with adults and their peers.

Children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress. Staff plan a broad range of activities that motivate children and prepare them well for starting school. For example, children delight in exploring interesting sensory items hidden in a bucket. This helps them develop good attention and listening skills.

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

• Leaders are dedicated to providing a good-quality experience for children. They have fully addressed the weaknesses in practice and the actions raised at the previous inspection. There is a strong focus on continually developing staff skills and knowledge. Staff make good use of knowledge they acquire from training. For example, they use coaching techniques to help children manage their own feelings.
• The manager uses additional funding well to support children's individual needs. For example, they offer children with SEND the one-to-one support that they require, or source resources and equipment that help all children make good progress in their learning and development.
• Staff plan a range of activities to help children develop their fine motor skills, for instance using tools such as scissors and sticking sequins using glue sticks. Children show an interest in the wide range of art and craft activities on offer. However, at times during some art and craft activities, staff overly direct children and do not allow them to fully explore their own creative ideas and interests.
• Staff promote children's language skills effectively. They model language and introduce new vocabulary during activities and play. For example, as children explore resources that flash, stretch and make a noise, staff encourage them to learn new descriptive words such as 'squish' and 'squeeze'. Staff use effective approaches to help all children communicate, including children who speak English as an additional language and children with SEND. For example, staff use some sign language to help children follow routines and learn key words.
• Children have nutritious meals according to their individual dietary needs and preferences. They benefit from regular time outdoors in the fresh air and exercise throughout the day. This helps to promote children's physical well-being and supports good health.
• Staff keep parents well informed about their children's development and progress. They share ideas with parents about ways they can help support their children's learning at home. Parents get involved in the topics that staff plan for children. For example, children collect natural resources on walks with their parents and bring them into nursery to contribute to their topical learning about autumn.
• Children learn about the world around them in a variety of ways. They have regular outings in the local area, exploring a variety of places in their community. Staff provide children with opportunities to learn about one another and what makes them unique. This helps to give children a sense of belonging. However, staff plan fewer opportunities to help children develop a broader understanding of the wider community, to help prepare them for life in modern Britain.
• Staff encourage children to develop good independence skills. For example, toddlers pour their own drinks, and pre-school children clear away their plates and cups after meals.
• Staff use a range of effective teaching techniques to extend children's mathematical development. For instance, staff take opportunities as they arise in children's play to model mathematical language, count with children and teach them about shape and colour.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance teaching during adult-planned art and craft activities, to provide greater opportunities for children to develop their own creative ideas and interests
• extend opportunities to expand children's understanding of their wider community and modern Britain, to enrich their knowledge of communities beyond their own.