Cygnets of Henley Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in this welcoming nursery. Staff greet children in the morning as they arrive and spend time talking with parents. This informative interaction at the beginning of the day helps staff to find out about children's sleep and well-being, so they can support children's individual needs.

Leaders and staff have a clear vision of what they want children to learn. They provide many resources and plan age-appropriate activities for them, indoors and outdoors. Children demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning and are fully engaged in their self-chosen play. For example, older children become deeply engrossed in testing their creative skills with magnetic building blocks. They use their imaginations and demonstrate perseverance as they stack the magnets to create tall buildings. Attentive staff are close by and offer lots of praise and encouragement. This promotes children's creativity and understanding of cause and effect, and it gives them a strong sense of pride in their achievements.

Babies and toddlers enjoy a good balance between adult-led activities and those they choose for themselves. They have opportunities to explore sensory play, such as pouring and scooping rice into cups, and enjoy the feel of colourful water bags. They squeeze and touch the different materials and show curiosity in their play. This engages them in new experiences and helps to strengthen their small-muscle skills effectively.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour and instil good manners. For example, they remind children to say 'please' and 'thank you', share resources and wait their turn. This helps children to behave well and to be kind and caring towards each other.

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

• Children have plenty of opportunities to get involved in physical activities. For example, they play in the garden using ride-on and balancing toys. Staff also provide opportunities for children to take part in ball games and use the large field of the adjacent school. This supports children's physical development and engages them in team sport. Furthermore, staff plan to introduce weekly yoga sessions to promote children's health and overall well-being further.
• Staff promote children's literacy, as well as their speech and language development, effectively. For instance, they sing with the children and read to them every day. Furthermore, staff engage children in alphabet games and challenge them to name words that start with individual letters. Children relish the praise they continually receive from staff and thoroughly enjoy taking part in group sessions, ready for their move on to school.
• Staff skilfully encourage children's mathematical learning across the nursery. For example, young children show high levels of concentration as they pour liquid into funnels and excitedly observe how it flows out. Children aged two and three learn about different shapes during art and craft activities. Pre-school children proudly demonstrate their counting skills as they play games with staff and count their steps. This promotes children's sequenced mathematical learning superbly, ready for the next steps in their learning and development.
• Children learn independent skills with the help of experienced staff. They wash their hands independently, feed themselves at mealtimes and tidy away resources and toys. However, new and less experienced staff do not consistently give children the knowledge and skills they need to apply for future learning. This is because the support and training for newer staff are not implemented fully.
• Staff speak positively of the manager and report that they are well supported. Regular supervisions and team meetings help staff to feel valued and content in their role. Staff work well together in their own rooms and across the nursery. This helps to promote consistency and supports children's transition as they move up to the next room.
• The manager and staff work together collaboratively with the local school, the local authority and other professionals to support the children in their care further. Staff take good account of children's needs when using additional funding. For instance, they obtain resources to encourage children's communication skills, which has a positive impact on their speech and language development.
• Staff work in partnership with parents to provide continuity in children's care routines. They share information with parents about their children's day and their individual achievements. Parents report that their children have made good progress, particularly with their speech and language and social skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the support and training for newer and less experienced staff to provide greater consistency across all aspects of children's learning and development.