Elland Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very keen and motivated to learn. Staff provide a well-planned learning environment that captures children's interest. The setting is a hive of activity. Staff encourage children to persist in self-chosen challenges and work collaboratively on tasks, for example as children search for minibeasts and make dens together. Staff know when to intervene to add value to a play experience to make it more challenging, and when it is more appropriate to step back.

Staff are skilled in asking questions and allowing children time to think and respond at their own pace. Staff talk confidently about their key children and about the skills they are focusing on and why. They work well in partnership with parents and suggest ways in which they can build on their children's learning at home.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff worked extremely well in partnership with parents. They provided children with live learning sessions and the resources to support their learning in these sessions. When children returned to the setting, staff completed baseline assessments of their learning and used this information to prioritise key areas. These included children's personal, social and emotional development and their communication and language. Staff encouraged children to talk about their feelings and they were supported to settle back into familiar routines at their own pace.

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

• The curriculum is well planned and sequenced to build on children's learning and skills. It ensures that children acquire the skills they need for future learning and is challenging and ambitious for all. Staff give children lots of opportunities to practise newly acquired skills to ensure that knowledge is securely embedded.
• Well-timed and sensitive questioning with older children encourages them to talk through their thinking. Staff are skilled at 'tuning in' to what young children are trying to say to them and allow them to lead conversations. Staff regularly talk through what they are doing, and this also helps children to learn language in context. Although, overall staff communicate well with children, they are not always consistent in their approach to modelling language to encourage children to use well-formed sentences.
• Staff support children to persevere in tasks and to be able to sit and concentrate for longer periods. Children learn good sitting and listening skills during group activities. Staff remind them to use their eyes for looking this way so they can see what is happening and to use their ears for good listening. This all helps to prepare children for future learning as they move to school.
• Staff value and celebrate multilingualism in the setting. They work in partnership with parents to find out what language children speak at home. Staff make good use of interpreters, learn key words and provide books and resources in the child's home language.
• Children's physical skills are promoted in a range of ways. Staff actively encourage babies and toddlers to explore their environment and be involved in a range of sensory explorations. Children test their abilities and strength as they build dens and balance and climb on equipment outdoors. During daily routines, staff encourage children's personal independence. Children serve themselves food and pour their own drinks. Staff have a good grasp of children's different abilities and provide appropriate levels of support and encouragement.
• Where there are gaps in children's learning, staff work proactively in partnership with professionals to get children the help and support they need. Funding is used to good effect and in the best way possible to benefit children's learning. This includes purchasing specific resources and providing one-to-one support for children.
• Good support is in place for staff to promote their well-being and to show that they are valued. Staff have regular supervisions and these, along with peer observations, are used well to identify further training that ultimately improves outcomes for children.
• Parents describe how well their children are progressing and how useful they find the feedback they receive. They explain how they are involved in decision-making and know the key skills that staff are focusing on with their children and the reasons why. Parents speak very highly of the staff and leadership team and how supportive they are.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to use the correct vocabulary and sentence structure consistently when modelling language to children.