Country Rascals Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enter the home-from-home nursery eagerly and soon settle to activities. They relish the daily routine. Staff engage them in lively conversation from the start and focus on children's interests and ideas. This makes them feel valued and welcome. Children are happy and confident, showing that they feel secure at the nursery. They delight in exploring and investigating, both indoors and outside. Children are active learners and are keen to try out new experiences. For example, they recently had a go at body boarding at a local beach and enjoyed rock climbing nearby. Outdoor play is a priority at the nursery and children have plenty of opportunities to practise running, climbing and balancing on the equipment in the garden. Babies learn to move safely up carpeted steps and slide down the gentle slope. These activities benefit children's physical development. Children learn using all of their senses. For instance, they taste vegetables grown in their garden, feel different textures and materials and choose paint colours to create prints.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. Children behave well and learn to share and take turns. Staff are good role models, who encourage children and praise their efforts. Children willingly help to keep the play areas safe. They help their friends and younger children with tasks. For example, children give out small bowls of fruit at snack time.

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

• The manager and staff ensure that the nursery is highly inclusive. The support for all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, is very strong. All children thrive. They make good progress from their starting points. Many children start at the nursery as babies and continue to attend up to school age, and are followed there by their siblings. Staff are careful to include all children fully in activities and encourage quieter children to contribute their thoughts and ideas.
• Parents value the good communication from all staff, especially their child's key person. They feel fully informed about their children's experiences and learning and development. Parents comment on the extent of the care and support provided by staff for the whole family.
• The manager has a clear vision for the nursery. She promotes staff well-being at every opportunity. Staff say that they enjoy their roles. They have opportunities to enhance their professional development, such as finding out more about how babies develop. The manager coaches new and existing staff to address any support needs. Supervision arrangements are ongoing. However, these are not consistently targeted as strongly to help staff to improve their interactions with children and enhance the structured curriculum even further.
• Children benefit from fresh air and exercise and nutritionally balanced snacks and meals. This helps their good physical development. Older children learn to wash their hands for themselves and to follow good hygiene procedures. However, occasionally, staff do not fully implement the best hygiene practice. They sometimes miss opportunities to help all children to understand the importance of following these procedures consistently.
• Children find out about the wider world around them. For instance, they plant seeds to grow into vegetables, sample the produce and cook meals with it. They visit the community, such as on outings to local cafes and exploring woodland. Children learn about the similarities and differences between themselves and others during these activities.
• Babies and children practise their self-care skills, which helps them to become more independent in preparation for future learning. Young children feed themselves confidently. Older children find wellington boots and jackets to put on before playing outdoors. Staff work closely in partnership with parents to help children with toilet training. They work hard to ensure that the move from the baby room to the pre-school room and onward to school is as smooth as possible.
• The manager and staff provide flexible and tailored settling-in sessions for babies and toddlers. They gather meaningful information about babies' routines and likes and dislikes. Staff make sure that they use this information to help children in their learning and development from the start. This helps children to settle quickly and well.
• Staff read books to babies and children of all ages, throughout the day. They sing songs and rhymes together. Staff ask questions, giving children time to answer, and introduce new words. Children make marks using paint, sand and crayons. They listen carefully so that they will be able to distinguish sounds. These activities help to support the good development of children's communication and language and early literacy skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen existing supervision arrangements further to support staff to deliver a consistently ambitious curriculum through the highest quality teaching
• support staff to implement good hygiene routines at all times to help children understand the importance of following these carefully.