Egerton Nursery and Out of School Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff praise children and they respond with positive behaviour. Children take turns and play cooperatively and are kind to each other. For example, a toddler pats their friend's back when they cough. Staff form strong bonds with children, and they enjoy the staff's interactions in their play. Children enjoy a calm and well-organised environment. Staff have very good relationships with children. For example, children are excited and run to hug staff when they arrive at the nursery.

Children are fully engaged and motivated. They are confident in initiating and choosing their play. Children show pride in their achievements and proudly show the inspector their creations. Staff support children to 'have a go' and succeed. As a result, children develop a strong 'can-do' attitude. For example, children show great resilience as they practise riding a scooter outdoors. Each time they lose their balance, they keep trying until they succeed. Children's control of their hands and fingers is enhanced as they excitedly search for bricks hiding in foam, then build towers. Outdoors, they run, jump and manoeuvre themselves around obstacles using their whole bodies. This encourages children to be physically active.

Staff have well-planned transition procedures, and they develop positive key-person relationships. This helps children to feel safe and secure. For instance, when children start nursery, they have settling-in visits and staff spend time with families getting to know them and their child. This helps children settle quickly and become familiar with their new environment, different toys, and new people.

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

• Staff make regular observations and assessments of children's individual learning. They have a clear intent of what they want every child to learn next. Staff work hard to make sure that the planned activities are carefully matched to children's interests and learning needs. They organise the learning environment well, enabling children to access toys and resources independently. This allows children to learn independently and develop their thinking skills and own ideas.
• Children are supported by staff to learn to recognise and write the letters in their name. They demonstrate good pencil control. Children who prefer to learn outdoors enjoy the wide range of resources and activities that staff provide. This promotes and enhances children's physical skills. Children are well prepared for their eventual move to school.
• Staff show a genuine interest in what children say. They engage in meaningful conversations. Toddlers copy the actions of staff as they sing and repeat some familiar words. Staff promote children's early reading skills. For example, staff read stories with good intonation, and children are very motivated and engaged as they become engrossed in the story. This promotes children's language skills and a love of books.
• Staff encourage children to learn to do things for themselves. For example, they tidy up after themselves, help prepare the daily snacks and put on their coats so they can play outdoors. This promotes and encourages their independence skills.
• Parents are very complimentary about the nursery. They attribute their children's good progress, particularly in developing confidence, social skills and speech skills, to the staff. However, staff do not always effectively support parents in helping to promote continued learning at home. For instance, they do not always offer advice and guidance on how to promote toileting training at home. This does not fully promote children's self-help skills.
• Children demonstrate a positive attitude towards their learning. They are eager to explore their environment. Children begin to solve problems, such as how to create repetitive patterns with coloured bricks. However, on occasion, staff do not promptly recognise when they can offer further challenge. This does not enhance their learning opportunities.
• The staff provides swift intervention when children require additional support. They offer effective small-group or one-to-one support. Staff work closely with outside professional agencies, such as speech and language therapists. They welcome support from the local authority's early years team. Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is strong. This has a positive impact on the progress children make from their individual starting points.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• work more closely with parents to share strategies to help accelerate children's acquisition of toileting skills
• develop staff support and help staff to understand how to challenge children even further in their learning.