Earlyworld Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Parents, visitors and children receive a warm and friendly welcome when arriving at this fun and vibrant nursery. Staff get to know children and their families very well. This helps children to form close bonds with staff, who understand their individual needs and preferences. New children are given time to settle in and adapt to the nursery environment. Staff provide plenty of reassurance and comfort for children who find it harder to leave their parents. As a result, children are happy and settle quickly. They play alongside their friends well and enjoy their time at nursery.

Staff provide plenty of praise and encouragement. They support children to take responsibility for things they can do for themselves. Children develop high self-esteem, confidence and independence. Toddlers are keen to get dustpans and brushes and sweep up sand and rice which has fallen on the floor. Pre-school children collect their own trays of food at lunchtime to help prepare them for mealtimes when they go to school. Children get tissues for their noses, put rubbish in the bin and toilet independently.

Staff promote communication and language well, including supporting children and families to use simple sign language. Children demonstrate that they are confident communicators. They ask and answer questions as they engage in conversation with each other, staff and visitors. Babies utter first words and sounds as staff encourage them to join in with music and rhymes.

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

• The nursery benefits from a strong management team, who have worked hard to support staff to raise the quality of the provision. Managers and staff are committed to providing good-quality care and learning for children. Staff feel supported by managers and benefit from regular supervision and training to develop their practice and improve outcomes for children.
• There is a well-considered curriculum in place, which is tailored to each room and age group. Staff place a strong focus on developing children's social and emotional, language and physical skills to ensure children benefit from a strong foundation in learning to prepare them for the next stage in their education.
• Children increase their knowledge of the wider world as they join in activities to promote their understanding of sustainability and recycling. Staff encourage children of all ages to collect used materials they can recycle at nursery. Children arrive with plastic, cardboard and other packaging materials to be used for junk modelling. During the day, children thoroughly enjoy cutting, gluing and fixing materials to create rockets and binoculars.
• Each nursery room is equipped with a wealth of resources and activities to inspire children to play and learn. Overall, children engage well in play and learning. However, there are times when staff working with pre-school children do not act swiftly enough when some children lose their focus. Activities and experiences during these times are not consistently adapted to increase children's motivation and attention.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is strong. Other professionals involved in children's care visit the setting to work in partnership with staff. Children benefit from targeted planning and teaching to help them to make progress from their starting points.
• Staff implement a range of successful strategies to promote children's good health. Children benefit from daily fresh air and exercise. Their nutritional needs are met through the provision of healthy snacks and freshly cooked nursery meals. Staff work in partnership with external dentistry professionals to educate parents and children about the importance of good oral health.
• Staff support children to learn how to behave well. Children are aware of the simple nursery rules. Staff remind children to share resources and to be kind to their friends. Children wait patiently for their turn to play with a favourite car or pushchair.
• Parents are highly complimentary about the staff and care provided. They comment that their children enjoy coming and they can see the progress they make. Staff invite parents to stay-and-play sessions and share information electronically and through daily conversations. Home to nursery links are strengthened when children borrow books or take activities home. However, staff do not consistently update parents about their child's current next steps in learning to help parents to build on learning even more at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff working with pre-school children to identify and successfully adapt activities during times when children lose focus and attention
• develop partnerships with parents even further and provide more information about children's individual next steps to help build on learning at home.