Cotton Tails Nursery at Hagley

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide an inclusive environment where children flourish, particularly in the school room where the quality of teaching is excellent. Staff working in the school room have a deep knowledge of their children's next steps in learning and use this information extremely well to help them make exceptional progress. These staff have the highest expectations of children and design a wealth of experiences to integrate new knowledge and learning. For example, children show a comprehensive understanding of plants and growth as they competently talk about the function of the roots, stem and petals of a flower. Other staff across the nursery creatively plan activities with a clear learning intention in response to children's interests, to help children make good progress over time. Staff working in the nursery room use children's favourite activities, for example paint and water play, to incorporate mathematical concepts such as heavy, light, big and small. Most children across the nursery show high levels of engagement and enjoy their play.

Staff prioritise children's social and emotional development and all children, including babies, are safe, happy and settled. Staff help children to identify how they are feeling and help them to talk about their emotions. Children learn to behave well and show kindness and respect for one another. Staff caring for children with speech and language delay provide high-quality interventions to help close gaps in their learning.

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

• A flexible and adaptable curriculum is implemented to suit the learning needs of children. Staff creatively incorporate the changing seasons, cultural festivals and popular books. Staff focus on preparing children with the skills and knowledge they need for their next stage of learning. Staff in the school room benefit from an external teacher who guides their excellent practice in preparing children for school. For example, children show high levels of interest and engagement as they take part in the various, fun literacy activities and many excel in this area.
• Staff swiftly identify any children who may need additional intervention, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff working in the school and nursery rooms work exceptionally well in supporting children with speech and language delay. Their early interventions help close gaps rapidly for children who are waiting for external support, such as speech and language therapy. Any additional funding received for children, such as the early years pupil premium, is used wisely to benefit children in their care and education.
• Staff sensitively observe and assess children to find out what they enjoy and can do and use this information to plan a variety of activities. For example, staff know many children are fond of animals and sensory play and use these as a stimulus in activities to help them engage and progress. However, on occasions, staff working with toddlers do not adapt activities for the youngest children in the group to help further entice them during activities and increase their involvement.
• Staff form strong partnerships with parents to help them understand the needs of children. They use an effective range of strategies to share and update information about children's needs and family circumstances. Each week, a child is made the focus on the 'special person board' to help staff and children recognise the uniqueness of each family. Parents report that they are highly satisfied with the service they receive. For example, they say they are impressed with the quality of the information they receive on how to support their children's learning at home and the numerous workshops and events they can attend.
• Promoting children's physical health is a clear priority. Parents make good use of the termly activity ideas sent home by staff to help promote children's good health. Children benefit from healthy and nutritious meals, which are prepared on site. Staff help children to learn about the benefits of fresh produce as they plant and care for their own vegetables and herbs. Staff in the school room teach children about the importance of caring for their environment. For example, children learn how to reuse, reduce and recycle waste.
• The enthusiastic and dedicated leadership team constantly reviews the care and education provided and regularly consults with parents to further enhance the provision. Staff benefit from regular monitoring, supervision sessions and training and talk positively about the support they receive. However, not all staff consistently benefit from highly effective professional development opportunities to enhance the quality of all staff's teaching practice to the highest level.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff working with toddlers to plan more effectively for the youngest children in the group to help increase their involvement during activities and extend their learning potential
• extend the opportunities for all staff to benefit from highly effective professional development opportunities to further enhance the quality of teaching across the nursery.