Early Years @ Shape

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery forms an integral part of the local community. Staff provide a welcoming and inclusive nursery for children and their families. Children's uniqueness, ethnicity, culture and diversity are supported, valued and celebrated. Children thrive in this nursery.

Due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, parents are not able to come into the nursery and currently leave their children with a member of staff at the door. Children and families receive a warm smile and cheery greeting from staff. Babies and children eagerly and confidently enter nursery. They develop strong, trusting relationships with staff and demonstrate how happy and safe they feel. Babies show their delight through smiles and giggles as they initiate games of peek-a-boo. Staff are highly responsive and sustain babies' play.

Staff are good role models for children and have high expectations of them. Children behave well. They play cooperatively together to build towers and garages for the cars using wooden bricks. Children take turns and discuss the best way to build their constructions. Staff spontaneously sing throughout the day. They teach children a wide range of songs and rhymes to help develop their language and early literacy skills.

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

• The manager and staff are ambitious for children and plan a broad curriculum to support their learning. Staff use themes to help them plan and sequence what they want children to learn over time. They teach children about the role of the dentist and dental hygiene, and use innovative play ideas to help children understand how to care for their teeth. This includes providing plastic building bricks to represent teeth, using string as dental floss and marshmallow as plaque. Children concentrate well and persist in using the string to remove the marshmallows from the bricks. Staff help children to understand the importance of removing food from their teeth. They also extend children's vocabulary skills through introducing new words.
• Staff place a high priority on the curriculum for personal, social and emotional development. Children become resilient and develop independence in managing their self-care. They are well supported by their caring and consistent key person and other staff.
• Parents are extremely pleased with the nursery and the progress their children make. They feel well supported despite the restrictions that COVID-19 has imposed. Parents state that they 'cannot praise the staff high enough for the great support they provide' to themselves and their children. Parents feel that staff provide children with 'a really solid foundation' and children demonstrate at home what they learn in nursery. Parents report that their children talk confidently about the life cycle of a butterfly and use new vocabulary, including 'caterpillar', 'cocoon' and 'butterfly'. Partnerships with parents are very strong.
• Children's mathematical development is supported very well. Staff challenge children to identify two- and three-dimensional shapes in the environment and to write numbers to 100 and beyond. Older children complete simple addition and subtraction mathematical problems. However, staff are less confident in teaching aspects of the curriculum for expressive arts and design. This reduces opportunities for children to develop their self-expression and represent their individual artistic ideas.
• Staff are swift to identify any developmental concerns in children. They support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. Staff work well with parents and other professionals to plan and implement strategies to benefit children. The manager uses additional funding effectively. She provides extra adult support to help children develop the skills and knowledge they need for school.
• Staff support children who speak English as an additional language especially well. They value the languages that children speak at home and use translation tools to engage them in conversation. Children learn to speak English at a rapid rate.
• Staff ensure that children enjoy daily outings to play and learn in the local community. Children are motivated and energetic. They display good control of their bodies and challenge their physical skills as they excitedly climb, balance and swing on play equipment.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• raise the standards of staff's teaching in expressive arts and design, so that children are able to independently represent their own ideas, develop their self-expression and enhance their artistic skills.