Early Years Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show kindness to others, for example when they pass them a cup at snack time. They play cooperatively alongside their friends. Children are confident to introduce themselves to visitors, telling them that their favourite toys are cars. Children benefit from staff who know them well. For example, if children are quiet, staff quickly identify this and spend time talking to them and offering comfort until they develop in confidence. This supports children's emotional well-being and helps them to feel safe and secure. Children are independent, such as during mealtimes and snack times. They pour their drinks and help to wash up plates and cups when they have finished.

Staff understand how children progress. They plan experiences to help them experience nature. Children happily go with staff for walks around the host school's field. They collect sticks, feathers and leaves to bring back to the nursery to use in their artwork. They are creative when they use glue and natural resources to make pictures. Children are supported to develop their understanding of positional language. When children play with toy train tracks, staff talk about the train going 'over' and 'under' the bridge. The manager spends additional funding effectively to give children one-to-one time with staff, to meet their individual needs, for example to help develop their speaking skills.

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

• The manager works well alongside her staff team. She supports their teaching practice, for example, through discussions at supervision meetings. Staff have targets to help develop their practice. For instance, staff are given the responsibility to help children understand their emotions and how they are feeling. They research how to do this and use colours to help children to identify different feelings.
• When children who speak English as an additional language start attending the nursery, they are supported to have a sense of belonging. For example, staff find out key words and phrases in their home language and use these to communicate with them. Staff use pictures and visual prompts to help children to understand the routines in the day. For instance, they show children a nappy before they ask them if they can change them.
• Staff encourage children to develop an understanding of how to promote their good health. They help children to understand the importance of brushing their teeth. Staff talk to children about the healthy drinks they offer them at snack time. Children learn that milk helps their teeth and nails.
• Staff discuss the nursery rules and boundaries with children to help them to understand what is expected of them. For example, they remind children to listen during group times and to tidy up toys when they hear a bell. However, staff do not fully support children to understand why these rules and boundaries are in place, to extend their knowledge further.
• The manager devises a curriculum that provides plentiful opportunities for children to develop their communication and language skills. This helps children with their future learning and their move on to school. Songs and rhymes are introduced into most daily activities and routines. For example, when children are outside in the rain, staff sing a song about it raining and pouring. When children join an activity, staff sing a song to welcome them to the group.
• The manager reflects on the experiences she offers children. She included the views of parents and children when making recent changes to the garden. For example, a new floor surface and equipment have been developed to offer children further opportunities for safe physical exercise. Children develop strength in their legs when they climb up ramps on large equipment. They develop the muscles in their hands when they copy staff to spin hoops around on the floor.
• Staff share information with parents about activities that all children enjoy in the nursery. Parents comment positively about their children's experiences. They say their children have developed in confidence and social skills. However, staff do not fully share information with parents about what their children need to learn next to support their progress and how they can complement this at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's interactions with children to help them understand why rules and boundaries are in place
• support staff to give parents further information about their children's individual learning, to help them support their children's learning at home more precisely.