Discovery Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children play and learn in a positive and caring environment. They build strong relationships with their peers and adults in the setting. This supports children's emotional well-being effectively. Children are happy and feel safe. They settle quickly, including those who have been away from the setting for some periods.

Children develop and build on their vocabulary, which enables them to express themselves. They have plenty of opportunities to explore books, which they enjoy. Children become effective communicators because staff have high expectations for them. They learn mathematical concepts, such as size and shapes, successfully and are beginning to count with increasing confidence.

Children are motivated to play and learn. They enjoy a wide range of age-appropriate activities, such as painting and sand exploration. Outside, children have lots of fun running, climbing apparatus and engaging in imaginary play. They particularly enjoy making pretend scrambled eggs in the mud kitchen. Children behave well. In the main, they display kindness and sensitive behaviours. For example, during outdoor play, a child asked their friend gently, 'What's wrong?' to show their care and concern for them.

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

• Staff help children to make rapid progress across the seven areas of learning. For instance, children, including those who speak English as an additional language, gain good levels of independence and social confidence.
• The curriculum for communication and language development is good. For instance, in small-group time, staff use nursery rhymes and songs successfully to teach children new words. During play, they are skilled at asking children stimulating and age-appropriate questions. Children develop their vocabulary and understanding effectively.
• Staff observe and assess children's learning accurately. However, sometimes, they do not use the information gathered to support all children, particularly those who prefer to learn in the natural environment. For example, staff do not plan and sequence outdoor activities well, for children's learning.
• Children's behaviour is good. They listen well and follow instructions from staff. The praise and encouragement they receive from staff support their well-being successfully. However, occasionally, staff are too quick to provide answers when children have conflicts during play. This prevents children from thinking through their ideas and finding solutions themselves.
• Staff are successful in teaching children how to lead a healthy lifestyle. They ensure that children wash their hands regularly, have daily physical exercise and eat nutritious meals. Staff promote children's good health effectively.
• Parents find that their children develop the knowledge and skills they need for the next stage of their education. They are happy with the ongoing and open communication between themselves and staff. Positive comments from parents include, 'Staff are amazing', 'My child is happy' and 'Communication is good'. The successful partnerships with parents have a positive impact on all children.
• In their understanding of the world, children gain an awareness of the similarities and differences between them. For example, they have plenty of opportunities to hear and develop their home language in play and learning.
• The provider offers staff regular support and training opportunities to develop their early years knowledge and skills. For instance, staff completed training which showed them how to make effective use of indoor play areas. Following this, staff are creating a 'woodland library' for children to enjoy and further develop their love of books.
• The provider reflects on their practice to continuously develop and improve the quality of the setting. Through self-evaluation, she has ensured that partnerships with parents remain strong, including during the COVID-19 restrictions.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make more effective use of observations and assessments to plan and sequence the outdoor activities in order to better support children's learning, particularly those who prefer to learn in the natural environment
• increase staff's knowledge of how to help children resolve conflicts and find solutions to the problems they face during play.