Eaton Mill Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at this nursery. Children happily enter and separate easily from their carers. Staff provide children with interesting, fun environments, both indoors and outdoors, in which to learn. Children make good progress. Staff are gentle in their approach to the children. Children are spoken to with respect, and staff are genuinely kind and reassuring. They teach children the skills they need for successful future learning and the transition to school. Staff gently implement the rules and boundaries of the nursery, for example 'kind hands', 'good listening' and 'helping others'.

Overall, managers develop a rich and varied curriculum that builds on what children already know and can do. Staff provide children with a wide range of activities and resources that help to motivate them to play and learn. Children successfully manage their own risks when they negotiate space to ride their scooters and bicycles. The manager and staff plan a variety of experiences for children to promote all areas of learning. They make effective use of the local community, such as when local paramedics visited to teach children about their role in keeping people safe. This helps to raise children's awareness of the local community and the wider world around them.

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

• The knowledgeable manager is dedicated to making sure the setting continually progresses. She leads an equally dedicated staff team. The staff say they feel well supported in their roles. The manager completes regular observations of staff's teaching practice and provides constructive feedback. This helps to improve the overall quality of teaching.
• Children enjoy making art creations that help to explain how to be kind and what this means to them. Staff support children to regulate their emotions and are sensitive towards their feelings. They guide children to make the right choices. Children understand the expectations, and their behaviour is good.
• Children delight in using their imaginations to make 'pancakes' with play dough. Staff add flavours and scents to enhance the sensory experience for them. In addition, staff make links to the ingredients children use to make play dough to help them think about what they could use when making pancakes. Staff introduce new words, such as 'pat', 'roll', 'flatten' and 'circle'.
• Children learn to manage their self-care needs independently. For example, they put their coats and shoes on before going outside to play. When younger children need help, staff continue to encourage them to do as much as possible by themselves. Staff provide descriptive praise that raises children's confidence and encourages a positive 'can-do' attitude towards learning. Children are encouraged to use their voice to make their needs known. They develop positive relationships with staff and each other.
• The manager and staff are clear about how they support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They make prompt referrals to agencies when necessary. The nursery successfully uses additional funding that children receive to support each child's individual needs.
• Staff use the outdoor area well to support children's physical development. Children learn to move their bodies in different ways, developing their coordination as they busily construct or have fun rolling balls down guttering. Children make decisions and demonstrate their growing ability to problem-solve as they try different ways to balance objects or ride around on the scooters.
• Partnership working with parents is strong. The manager is keen to bring families into the nursery. They plan times when parents and carers can join in with activities and share information. Staff also share ideas on how parents can continue learning at home. For example, they provide books and guidance on reading. This helps to consolidate children's learning between home and nursery.
• Overall, staff model language clearly and repeat words and sentences frequently. They share songs and stories and introduce new words to help extend children's vocabulary. Overall, children demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning experiences. Staff ask relevant questions to encourage children's thinking. However, on occasion, staff are very enthusiastic and ask multiple questions without allowing enough time for the children's responses.
• Staff know how to identify possible signs that a child may be at risk of harm and how to report concerns regarding a child's welfare. Children are closely supervised by staff, who also deploy themselves well to support the ongoing and changing interests of children throughout the day. Staff check all child-accessible areas of the setting to ensure that these remain safe for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and improve on staff's questioning techniques to enable children to have more time to think, respond and demonstrate what they know and understand.