Country Mice Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a very warm welcome on arrival at the nursery. This helps them to feel valued and creates a very positive start to their day. The effective key-person system helps new children to settle into nursery routines, which supports their emotional well-being. Children demonstrate that they feel safe, secure and confident in the nursery environment. They are very independent. They confidently place their coats on hooks and select their slippers. They know where to store their lunch box and self-register their arrival. They make independent choices from the wide range of play resources available and show positive attitudes to learning. They display good manners and behaviours.

Children show high levels of engagement for the range of activities on offer. For example, they carefully twist the top off toothpaste and carefully squeeze the paste on to their toothbrush. They talk about the importance of brushing their teeth to remove germs. This develops their knowledge of oral hygiene. Children have good opportunities to play outside. They relish opportunities to explore the outdoor kitchen, paint at the easel and ride their bikes around the roadway, which develops their physical skills. They learn about road safety, enjoying a visit from the local lollipop person. They talk to each other about the importance of stopping, waiting and looking before crossing the road safely.

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

• Managers are inspiring leaders and positive role models to practitioners and apprentices. They have a clear vision of what they want children to learn and how to build on children's learning step by step. They adapt and change activities to meet the individual needs of children. The range of activities practitioners provide have clearly defined learning intentions. Practitioners comment that they are happy in their role and have good opportunities for their own professional development.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery. They praise the support their children receive. Parents feel involved in their children's learning and enjoy the use of communication books. This gives them opportunities to share home events and exchange information. Parents comment positively about how their children enjoy the responsibility of being a helper, which develops their confidence and gives them a sense of belonging.
• There is a strong focus on developing children's literacy skills. Children enjoy writing for a purpose, and practitioners offer many opportunities for them to do this. Children use clipboards to take orders in their pretend café and make notes when playing outdoors. They talk about what they have written, confidently sharing their thoughts and ideas.
• Children are developing their personal, social and emotional skills. They show respect to each other during adult-led and child-initiated learning. They enjoy scooping up sand using a range of implements and place vehicles on ramps, predicting what will happen next. However, at times, too many children want to participate in some activities, and this is not always managed consistently by practitioners. This impacts on children's enjoyment and learning experiences.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and their families is a particular strength of the nursery. Practitioners quickly identify where children may need additional support and seek prompt help from a range of professionals. They follow targeted plans and provide speech and language focus sessions. This helps to make sure that any gaps in children's learning are closed, which gives them the best possible start in life.
• There is a strong emphasis on promoting inclusive practice. Children enjoy visits to a farm to experience the arrival of spring lambs and develop their understanding of how others in the community live. They visit allotments to learn about how vegetables are grown and harvested. This helps children to value each other's individuality and to learn about healthy food choices.
• Practitioners form respectful relationships with children. They play alongside children to offer guidance and hold conversations with them. However, on occasion, practitioners do not make the best use of their interaction with children to expand conversations and give children time to think through their answers. This does not always extend children's thinking and communication and language skills even further.
• Practitioners incorporate mathematics into children's play in interesting ways. Children explore shape and compare quantity within the story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. Practitioners provide a range of materials so that children of different ages and abilities can be creative and follow their own thoughts and ideas.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support practitioners to make even better use of their interactions with children to extend their thinking and develop their communication and language skills even further
• review the organisation of some activities to ensure children can participate fully and gain the intended knowledge and skills.