Early Learning Years Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and thrive in this nursery. Staff and leaders create a nurturing environment, where they celebrate diversity. Staff carefully plan an ambitious curriculum to support children to continuously develop their learning as they move through the nursery. This means that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress and are ready for the next stage in their education journey.

Staff plan trips in response to children's interests. This helps children to develop an awareness of the world beyond the nursery and their homes. For example, toddlers take a walk to look at different forms of transport as some children show an interest in cars. Staff ensure that they undertake thorough risk assessments of the places children visit shortly before they go. This supports staff to be alert to any possible new challenges or risks in the environment, which helps them to keep children safe.

Children behave well. Staff are caring and playful with children. They know children well and support them with cuddles when needed for reassurance. Staff encourage children to talk about their emotions and to think of ways to help their friends if they say they are feeling sad or angry.

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

• Since the last inspection, leaders and staff have worked tirelessly to address the actions. Staff demonstrate a secure understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and the procedure to report a concern. Leaders have reviewed the induction and supervision processes and staff feel well supported by leaders. They appreciate the wide range of training they are able to access to support their practice.
• Children's behaviour is well managed. Staff ensure that they understand the needs of all children, including those with SEND. They use strategies to support children to make good progress in their learning and development.
• Overall, staff are positive communication partners for children. In the baby room, they encourage the youngest children to talk constantly, repeating words back using the correct pronunciation to support children's developing speech. Children love joining in with favourite songs and rhymes. They practise their counting skills together when singing number songs. However, when asking questions to support children's understanding, some staff rely on closed questions which require a 'yes' or 'no' answer. At times, this limits children's developing language and thinking skills.
• Older children learn to talk in front of their friends in group time and to listen carefully. However, sometimes when children use new words, staff do not extend children's communication, such as by explaining the meaning of these words. For example, when talking about ice-cream flavours and children mention 'dragon fruit', staff move the conversation on and do not extend children's language.
• Staff constantly support children's early literacy skills. Children love reading books indoors and outside. In all rooms, they enjoy practising drawing and writing on the mark-making walls. This supports them to become confident early writers and to develop their fine motor control, such as by gripping chalk or pens. Children assign meaning to the marks they make, telling staff they have drawn 'turtles' or 'dinosaurs'.
• Staff encourage children's creativity. For example, they encourage children to take on the role of the tiger as they enjoy a tea party inspired by the story of 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea'. Younger children paint using their hands and fingers to create different animal patterns and prints. They explore mixing colours to create different shades and giggle as they enjoy the feeling of the paint oozing through their fingers.
• Staff encourage children to be active, indoors and when spending time in the nursery garden. They provide healthy snacks and meals and teach children to develop their independence skills by increasing the expectations of the things they can do for themselves at mealtimes as they grow through the nursery. For example, younger children use a spoon to feed themselves, older children drink from open cups and serve their own food. Staff support children to wash their hands and blow their noses when they need to, which supports children to develop their self-care skills.
• Parent partnership is a strength of the nursery. Parents comment that they feel well informed about their children's day. They welcome the opportunities to spend time in the nursery for key celebrations or to share stories in different languages with children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently further develop children's thinking and language skills, such as, by using open-ended questions
• extend children's communication skills even further, for example, by explaining the meaning of new vocabulary when it is introduced.