Cygnet Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and ready to start their day at this welcoming, homely nursery. Leaders and staff are passionate about forming close bonds with children and their families. The key-person system is highly effective. Staff show genuine care and affection for the children. For example, new children receive sensitive support from their key person to help them settle into the nursery. This helps all children to have a sense of belonging. Children develop good friendships. For example, older children delight in 'making a birthday cake' for their friends in the role-play area. Children have strong social skills.

Staff expertly support children's communication and language development. They provide focused activities to assess and promote progress in this area. Children have good communication and language skills. For example, younger children readily use words such as 'more' and excitedly shout out animal sounds such as 'woof' and 'ribbit'. Older children happily tell others how 'lifeboats rescue you in the sea'. Children are developing a broad and varied vocabulary.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. For example, when children run indoors, staff gently prompt them by asking about the relevant 'golden rule'. Children respond cheerfully with 'walking inside' and adjust their behaviour accordingly. In addition, children have exemplary manners and consistently say 'please' and 'thank you'. The atmosphere is calm and nurturing, and children work collaboratively with others.

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

• Older children benefit from a well planned and carefully sequenced curriculum. For instance, staff teach mathematical concepts effectively as children complete a number puzzle. Staff encourage children to recognise numerals alongside objects representing the number. This supports good progress in children's mathematical development. However, at times, some staff are less confident in describing the key skills that they want younger children to develop. They do not fully understand what children should be learning next. For example, staff do not always plan effective activities to help children learn the most important skills.
• Overall, staff use what they know about the children to help plan a range of stimulating and enjoyable experiences. For example, children giggle with glee as they take turns rolling balls down drainpipes and eagerly run to retrieve them. These activities help foster positive attitudes towards play and learning. However, at times, the organisation of some staff and/or activities is not well thought out. This can affect some children's overall level of engagement, occasionally leading them to become disengaged or unsettled.
• Staff recognise the importance of offering all children a wide variety of activities to practise their physical skills. For instance, children enjoy riding trikes, balancing on beams and climbing on slides. They confidently navigate these tasks with little support. This helps to develop their large muscle movements, ready for later learning.
• Leaders and staff use additional funding effectively to ensure that disadvantaged children receive the support they need. Through regular observations, staff identify areas where some children require additional support, such as emotional development. Staff skilfully implement strategies to help these children understand and express their feelings. As a result, disadvantaged children make progress that is equal to, or even better than, that of their peers. Children in receipt of additional funding thrive in this nurturing setting.
• Staff report that leaders give their well-being high priority and ensure that their workload is manageable. Leaders have effective systems in place for staff training, coaching and ongoing support. They are proactive and passionate about continual professional development. For example, staff describe how recent training around children's oral health has helped them to introduce new teaching around topics such as toothbrushing and healthy snacks. This helps to improve the teaching over time.
• Leaders and staff have strong partnerships with parents, who value the regular feedback they receive about their children's learning and development. They say this helps them to support their children's learning at home. For example, staff share resources with parents to assist them in preparing their child for the transition to school. Parents praise the staff highly for having close bonds with their children, which has helped them to settle quickly at nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen teaching practice even further to help staff to have a clear understanding of the sequencing and priorities for learning for younger children
• review routines and organisation of activities to support children and consistently display positive attitudes to play and learning.