Eagley School House Nursery 2

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The leader's commitment to enabling every child to be emotionally strong ensures that children flourish in this remarkable nursery. The carefully designed curriculum supports children to believe in themselves as competent learners. Staff provide children with an emotionally supportive environment that promotes their high self-esteem from the earliest age. As a result, children are highly motivated to engage in the wide range of learning on offer. Staff model how to keep trying. Children demonstrate their resilience by not giving up when their learning becomes hard. Toddlers persevere to complete personal tasks, such as putting their shoes on independently. Staff value children's contributions, which means children are keen to share their knowledge. For example, children confidently tell staff what they have learned about the emergent layer of a rainforest. Children are empowered learners.

The expectations for children from staff are consistently high. Staff support children to learn how to manage their behaviour expertly. Therefore, children are socially developed beyond the expectations for their age. They show immense kindness and respect for one another. For example, pre-school children cooperatively build a home for a panda. They accept one another's ideas about how to make it better and apologise when they knock over part of the home accidentally. Even the youngest children show that they have learned to manage their behaviour with the help of sensitive guidance from staff. For instance, babies patiently, but excitedly, wait for their turn with the bubble wand. Every child's happiness and kinship to the nursery shines through.

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

• Leaders thoughtfully construct a curriculum that helps children to develop behaviour, skills and knowledge in an exciting and intuitive way. Staff have a thorough understanding of the curriculum because leaders ensure they are well trained in the approaches that underpin it. For example, staff attend a 'vision day' to strengthen their understanding of young children's behaviour. This means staff provide children with learning that meets their individual needs. Children make accelerated progress.
• Staff place high importance on the development of language and literacy skills. They precisely monitor children's communication development and plan opportunities to support the continual learning of new words. This means older babies have a good vocabulary and toddlers can easily converse with staff as they choose what to play with. As children mature, they learn to differentiate the sounds that objects and animals make. Finally, through lively 'eco-phonics' sessions, children learn that words are also made up of sounds. Children leave the nursery primed for successful early literacy learning at school.
• Children benefit from participating in a range of experiences that enrich their lives. For example, they engage in forest school, where they learn to safely use tools, such as hammers and nails. Staff consider children's starting points and their previous experiences to help them plan opportunities that will support them to develop further. For example, staff arrange trips that familiarise children with public transport. Children learn about similarities and differences in themselves and their community as they join in celebrations for Pride and a variety of religious festivals.
• The nursery has a dedicated team of special educational needs coordinators (SENCos). They work closely with parents and/or carers and other professionals. This ensures that children can easily access the provision and receive any assistance they need to make the best possible progress. Staff receive specialist training, where required, to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This ensures that all children are fully included and have their needs met.
• Leaders are passionate about providing a service that impacts positively on children and their families, staff and the wider community. Parents recognise that the nursery has made significant contributions to their child's positive development, even after they have left the nursery. Parents say that it is 'a great place for a child to grow up'. They appreciate the parent groups and podcasts that staff have designed to help them learn more about their child's development.
• A well-being coach is employed to provide staff, children and family members with supportive sessions as and when they need it. This service ensures that staff and families have dedicated support on hand to help them look after their own health and well-being. Staff report high levels of job satisfaction and are well protected from workplace bullying and harassment. Consequently, children are cared for in a truly positive and nurturing environment.