Cygnets Pre-School/Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children feel comfortable and secure in the care of the kind staff. They have developed strong bonds with the staff and display good social skills as they engage in back-and-forth conversations. For example, children become intrigued talking about the similarities and differences in the shoes they are wearing.

Children show a secure understanding of the routine. They know to wash their hands before mealtimes, and independently collect their lunch boxes before sitting at the table. Staff have high expectations for all children. They are supporting children to develop a sense of right from wrong, and give gentle reminders for behaviour when required. For example, staff help to engage children in story time as they become excited after lunch.

Staff encourage children to develop their curiosity. They provide opportunities to explore the natural world as they go on an adventure in the local community. Children are given a list of photographs that encourage them to look for different birds, including 'coots' and 'moorhens'. Some children display high levels of excitement as they correctly identify the birds. Staff ensure that parents are included in outings, so they can join in and help to extend children's learning.

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

• Staff support children to develop their knowledge of mathematics. They support children in recognising numbers up to 10 within the environment and encourage them to practise their counting skills during play. As a result, children are developing good maths skills.
• The manager regularly liaises with external professionals, such as specialist teachers, to ensure that strategies are effectively implemented for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). She completes referrals swiftly, and uses additional funding effectively to enhance the learning experiences available to children with SEND. For example, they have purchased new water play resources to engage and extend their interests in sensory experiences. This ensures that the individual needs of children with SEND are met.
• Children enjoy outings. For example, they go for walks around their local area. Leaders ensure that they have enough staff to meet requirements, and staff safely supervise children. However, they do not fully consider how to manage larger groups of children to ensure that they all consistently benefit from positive interactions at these times. For example, some children are eager to advance along the walk and they explore themselves, whereas others are held back and staff spend more time giving reminders about behaviour expectations, meaning that they have less opportunities to find out about the natural world.
• Staff provide plenty of opportunities for children to develop their coordination. For example, they go on regular outings where children practise walking and climbing. This helps to develop children's core strength and balance. Children display positive attitudes towards their learning as they initiate bat and ball games in the outdoor space. They show high levels of concentration as they practise hitting the ball back and forth to one another.
• Staff promote opportunities for children to celebrate their own cultures. For example, they welcome parents into the nursery to bake traditional biscuits with the children. This helps children to develop a sense of belonging. However, staff are not fully effective at supporting children who speak English as an additional language. For example, they have not fully explored how to support these children to communicate their wants and needs. Therefore, children who speak English as an additional language do not progress as well as possible.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents say that they feel well supported by the staff and comment on how happy their children are at the setting. Staff work closely with parents to support children's home learning. For example, they share learning journals every term. This helps parents to stay up to date with their children's progress and gives them ideas on how to support their next steps.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the organisation of large-group activities when on outings to ensure that children are consistently engaged in purposeful learning
• support staff and help them to understand how to promote opportunities for children to use their home language in play and learning.