Early Explorers Nursery - Worthing

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children enjoy their time at this highly inclusive nursery. They walk in with big smiles and leave their parents confidently at the door. Staff love being part of the team. They are very caring and create a warm, nurturing environment where children feel particularly happy, safe and secure. Children develop high levels of self-esteem and are keen to do things for themselves. For example, they hang up their coats and bags at the door and the 'happy helper' of the day enjoys helping to prepare snack for their friends and laying the table for lunch.

The manager and staff have high expectations for what all children can achieve, regardless of their individual circumstances. They work extremely closely with local inclusion services and provide extensive support to help close any gaps in children's learning. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from the calm and considered environment and staff support their individual needs closely. All children enjoy the wide variety of experiences on offer and make good progress from their developmental starting points.

The manager identifies that many children do not have regular access to outdoor play and so this is a big focus of the nursery. They have worked hard to create an exciting, adventurous, and stimulating garden, which children explore with delight.

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

• The manager is strongly supported by the ambitious provider and, together, they reflect closely on the effectiveness of the nursery. They think carefully about how to best support the needs of the children and ensure children's uniqueness is celebrated.
• There are a high number of children who receive additional funding, which the manager uses very thoughtfully. She looks closely at what children need to learn next and at any gaps in their experiences, and uses their interests to support their learning. For example, children who love listening to stories now benefit from a wide range of audio books, which they read along to excitedly. This helps their vocabulary, language development and early literacy skills.
• The manager and staff know the children very well and plan a broad curriculum to build on what children already know and can do. They are keen for children to explore nature and develop their physical skills outdoors. Children love looking for insects. They describe their appearance and habitat with confidence. They carefully climb on tyres and along balance beams outdoors, learning to take risks. However, staff do not always fully support children to understand how to stay safe. For example, children sometimes run inside and staff do not consistently help them to consider the dangers involved.
• Staff plan a wide range of activities and experiences, and children engage busily and eagerly in their play and learning. They enjoy listening to stories, drawing and writing their names, and creating with play dough. Overall, staff support children's learning very well. They encourage counting during children's play, repeat and model speech clearly, and encourage children to think and problem-solve.
• Children benefit from an exciting range of trips into the local community, which help to build their confidence and interest in the world. For example, they visit the local beach for 'beach explorer' sessions, where they explore nature, feel the sea on their skin and investigate their surroundings.
• The manager monitors staff practice and provides good training, guidance, and coaching. She is aware, however, of the need to further embed professional development for staff to raise their good practice higher. For example, during the inspection, staff did not always adapt their teaching to fully support children's different levels of development.
• The manager and staff focus highly on children's emotional well-being. For example, they run mindfulness sessions with children, working on their breathing and yoga poses, and giving them the skills they need to calm themselves down. As a result, children learn to manage their feelings and emotions, and they behave well. They listen closely to staff and each other and manage changes in routine confidently.
• Partnerships with parents are excellent. The manager and staff share detailed information with parents and keep them fully up to date with their children's learning. They give inspiring ideas to support home learning and parents are highly appreciative of this.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• embed the support and professional development in place for staff, to help raise the good quality of their practice higher
• give children more consistent messages about how to keep themselves safe.