Elms Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff are caring and nurturing at this nursery. Babies sit closely with staff and enjoy taking part in singing time. Staff choose familiar songs that children recognise. Children gesture to choose favourite songs, such as squeezing their hands for 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'. Children smile and sway as they delight in the singing session. They learn actions and copy some sounds in the songs.

The curriculum is sequenced throughout the nursery. Leaders have a sound understanding of what skills children need to learn. Children start to be independent as early as babies as they feed themselves and wipe their own hands with support. Pre-school children take more responsibility for their personal care needs by completing tasks, such as putting their coats on by themselves and using the toilet independently. Staff encourage children to be self-sufficient, which helps to prepare them for their move to school.

Children develop friendships with one another. They choose to join others in their play and learn to be cooperative as they take turns to use resources. For example, older children sit together and wait for letter stencils to be available for them to use. Others wait for their friends to add blocks onto a tower before adding their own. This means children are learning to be considerate of others.

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

• Arrangements for settling new children are tailored to meet their individual needs. Leaders have a range of ways to gather information about families and children before they start. This accommodates university staff and students who travel from abroad. Children are allocated a key person, who meets with parents and children before they start at the nursery. This establishes strong relationships from the earliest point. As children transition to different rooms, they spend short amounts of time with new staff and peers until children and parents feel secure.
• Children benefit from a range of experiences. They have regular access to a forest school and a large outdoor area, where they are supervised to take appropriate risks. Leaders arrange for children to take walks in the local area and hire external dance and sports groups to lead sessions with children. This helps children to gain a wealth of knowledge about the world around them.
• Children are keen to explore the activities on offer. They enjoy being creative and investigating sensory materials. Staff spend time interacting with children during their play. For example, they encourage children to stack items on top of each other to form tall structures. Staff ask children questions and describe what they are doing. There are times, however, when staff do not fully extend children's learning, particularly for more capable children. This means that children are not always sufficiently challenged and, as a result, they sometimes disengage in the activities on offer.
• The support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is highly effective. Staff identify delays in children's development and act swiftly to ensure they have the support they need. Staff work closely with external agencies and parents to create suitable targets for children and coordinate support plans. Staff spend time getting to know children's specific needs, and improve their own knowledge about how to provide the best support. This means that all children make good progress.
• Leaders are insightful. They think intuitively, and have a vision for the nursery that is focused on improving outcomes for children. They invest highly in staff, ensuring that a highly effective senior team are deployed across the nursery to monitor and support staff practice. Staff feel supported by leaders and have access to external services, which promotes their well-being.
• Leaders make links with other professionals and work closely with Birmingham University. Staff take part in sustainability projects, and arrange for dental students to visit the nursery to promote children's good oral health. Consequently, children learn how to keep themselves and their environment safe and healthy.
• Parent partnerships are strong in this setting. Parents are enthusiastic about the care, education and support given by staff. They comment on staff going 'above and beyond' to offer their children the best experience possible, and say they provide exceptional support for children with SEND. They appreciate the two-way communication, and praise staff for making the whole family feel welcome and valued.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance staff's understanding further of how to extend children's learning to the highest level, so that children are sufficiently challenged.