Enchanted Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children have warm and affectionate attachments with staff. They arrive happy and are quick to get immersed in play and learning. This has been enabled through sensitive staff interaction that nurture an emotionally safe environment for children. Management and staff have high expectations of children and have secure knowledge of each child, their families and their needs. Staff have a good understanding of child development and are swift to identify when children require additional support. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is knowledgeable and works in partnership with parents and relevant professionals to put specific plans in place. However, targeted support for children with speech and language delay is not consistently used to equip children with a range of ways to communicate and express themselves.

Staff tentatively encourage children to share and take turns. As a result, children behave well and are respectful of each other's needs. For example, children require very little support from adults when they share the props with each other during story time. Older children are engaged in meaningful experiences and are curious and motivated, resulting in a positive attitude to learning. For example, children eagerly walk to the local field to collect natural resources and bring them back to explore further during an art activity.

Children are active and explore their physical abilities through a range of extra-curricular activities, such as swimming and dancing. They demonstrate confidence and independence as they move around their environment, accessing resources and taking themselves to the toilet. However, occasionally, staff do not make use of opportunities to further support children's sense of responsibility.

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

• The manager and staff have high ambitions for children and plan an exciting curriculum that supports children in making progress from their starting points. They work well with parents and other professionals to provide support for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, practical strategies that support children with speech and language difficulties are not successfully implemented to ensure children access and benefit from all aspects of the curriculum.
• The environment is stimulating and inviting, enabling children to feel safe and confident in the space. Children have free flow to the garden and resources are accessible and within reach, allowing them choice. Occasionally, staff do not utilise teaching opportunities in daily routines that further support resilience and self-help skills.
• Children have access to a wide range of books that stimulate their interests.
• Stories are brought to life using props and children act out the story, repeating their favourite lines. As a result, children have opportunities to use the new words learned in different contexts.
• The staff have high expectations for the children's behaviour. They create an environment where children are motivated and engaged in learning. Consequently, children are kind towards each other; they share and take turns with adult support.
• Management actively engages with the staff and are supportive towards their well-being. As a result, staff report they feel valued and appreciated at this setting. Staff are encouraged to develop and strengthen their practice through access to continuous professional development. However, staff do not yet measure the impact on practice and implement what they have learned consistently.
• Children enjoy healthy cooked food and have access to a range of physical experiences that strengthen their balance, movement and coordination. For example, babies have opportunities to pull themselves up and move around the room, supporting their next stage of development and learning. Older children enjoy regular visits to the local park, where they have access to a wide range of physical play opportunities.
• Parents speak fondly of the setting and the experiences their children have here. They feel children are safe and well looked after by the staff. Parents are encouraged to be involved in their children's learning, for instance, through questionnaires, parents' evenings and planned garden improvement days.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the teaching support for children identified with speech and language needs and those children who are below expected levels of development in their speaking
• support staff to improve the already high expectations they have for all children, with specific regard to children's growing independence.