Deerhurst Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff provide children with an exceptional start to their education. This allows all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to make accelerated progress from their starting points. Leaders and staff meticulously consider every aspect of children's learning and development. This includes highly effective partnership working. This begins even before children start at the nursery so that everything is in place to support them from the onset. The exceptionally strong key-person system enables children and their families to form strong bonds with staff.

Leaders have designed a curriculum that expertly links together all the key areas for children's learning. The baby room is a hive of activity and learning. Babies use their voices confidently during their early stages of language development. They spontaneously start singing familiar songs. Older children make decisions about where they will learn and what they will do. Staff encourage children to plan their own play experiences. This helps children to become extremely focused and motivated learners. Children's behaviour is exemplary.

Staff sensitively and expertly implement the curriculum. They use their comprehensive understanding of the children to adapt learning experiences so that all children benefit from the daily routine. Staff purposely model self-care routines so that babies and the youngest children can observe them and begin the learning process in readiness for using the skills independently when they are ready. This includes personal care routines and preparing snack.

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

• The leadership team is inspirational. They meticulously review all aspects of the nursery provision with their staff to ensure that each child can excel in their own way. This ensures that leaders and staff continuously improve their practice, and they go above and beyond to achieve this.
• Leaders place a precise and continual focus on professional development for both themselves and staff. This ensures that all staff are fully empowered with the knowledge and skills to provide the highest quality of care and education. Leaders support staff to gain further qualifications, for example, so they can progress from being apprentices to part of the leadership team. Some staff are currently working on extending their qualifications to provide children with further enrichment in their outdoor learning.
• Leaders and staff use their expert knowledge of child development to monitor children's progress. They make highly intuitive use of their observations of children to inform their planning and teaching. For example, staff working with babies recognise that some children need further support to build their confidence in social groups. They create inviting spaces where children can be comfortable in their own company and provide opportunities to build on this, such as eating their lunch with one friend at a table.
• Leaders and staff plan the learning environment that encourages older children to socially interact with their friends. They have created cosy spaces, to encourage conversations, for small groups of children to use when they choose. Staff expertly support children with their behaviour. Children are aware of the needs of others. For example, they help a friend to put on their hood when it begins to rain.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) and staff ensure that children with SEND receive educational programmes that precisely match their learning needs. The SENCO makes timely referrals to outside agencies so that children and their families can access further specialist support. They complete children's two-year-old progress check with parents so that health visitors have all the required information they need to assess children's progress accurately. Staff use highly effective teaching strategies to help children with SEND to make rapid progress towards their development milestones.
• Leaders and staff have identified a progressive approach for using books to support learning across the seven areas. Babies handle books and learn how to manoeuvre them. Staff encourage babies to notice the images and to respond to these. They support two-year-old children to engage physically in stories, such as by retelling the story as they travel around the outdoor areas. Staff who work with older children skilfully use books to support their language development and understanding. Children suggest alternative words that have the same meaning. They experiment with sounds in words, such as linking together rhyming words.
• Parent partnership working is exemplary. Leaders and staff give parents extensive support and guidance so they can provide continuity for children's learning at home. For example, they work together to help children to gain good sleeping habits. Parents say that staff are highly professional and have made a huge difference to their family life.