Court House Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and they settle quickly, as the friendly and welcoming staff greet them when they arrive. Leaders focus on providing a homely, family environment so that children and their families feel happy and safe. Children build strong relationships within the nursery, they form strong bonds with the adults who care for them and good friendships with their peers. The ambitious curriculum supports children's curiosity and motivation to learn. All children throughout the nursery display good concentration and focus, they develop a good range of skills to support them for the next stage in their learning. For instance, children of all ages display good listening and attention skills.

Children love being outside and enjoy taking part in physical play. Younger children challenge themselves to balance and jump with confidence. Staff stay close to supervise children and to reassure and offer support for those who are less confident. All children have a clear understanding of the routines and boundaries in place and staff recognise how to support children to learn to manage their feelings and behaviour in an appropriate way. Children learn to be patient and to take turns with resources.

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

• Leaders and staff place a high focus on supporting children's communication and language skills. They use core songs and books throughout the nursery to help children to become familiar with sounds, words and rhymes. Staff use all opportunities to involve children in singing and storytelling, and children have a clear love of stories and songs.
• Partnerships with parents and other professionals are strong and effective. Other professionals working with children visit the setting and work closely with staff to support children's individual needs. Staff use the support of other professionals to access training, to help meet children's health and care needs. Parents are very happy with the care that their children receive. They say that their children enjoy their time at nursery.
• Leaders have developed a curriculum that sets clear expectations on what they want children to learn by the end of each of the age groups within the nursery. Overall, most staff implement the curriculum well and target their teaching effectively. However, some of the staff team are not as confident, and need more support recognising how to deliver the curriculum consistently.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is knowledgeable about the children who attend and require additional support. The SENCo works closely with each child's key person, parents, and other professionals to provide targeted support and interventions to meet children's development needs. In addition to this leaders ensure that the additional funding that children receive is used to meet children's needs effectively. Staff reflect on the environment and resources to ensure that they are suitable for the children's needs. For instance, acoustic sound clouds have recently been added to the ceiling in the pre-school room to reduce the noise levels and support children's hearing.
• Leaders and staff promote children's good health and independence. Children know that they need to wash their hands before they eat and after they have been to the toilet. Mealtimes are nice sociable opportunities for children and staff to sit together and eat the healthy, freshly cooked meals. Older children demonstrate independence as they serve their food and confidently use their cutlery to cut and eat their meal.
• Leaders access resources and local businesses to build on children's skills and knowledge. They provide children with different opportunities to learn from other professionals. For instance, children have opportunities to take part in physical play sessions when a sports coach visits and leads the sessions. However, leaders do not regularly use opportunities to extend children's understanding and experiences of the lives and cultures of people from backgrounds different to their own.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support the newer and less confident staff to understand how to implement the curriculum consistently
• provide opportunities for children to learn about the diverse lives of people with backgrounds and cultures different to their own