Evergreen Early Years - Fulwood

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children benefit from a highly exciting and ambitious curriculum at this exceptional nursery. Children show high levels of curiosity and enthusiasm as they explore the lovingly prepared and well-designed environment. Staff are extremely well qualified and have high expectations for all children. They successfully plan a bespoke curriculum according to each child's individual interests and development needs. Consequently, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and the most vulnerable, make excellent progress. Children are supported by very positive role models that make learning fun. They receive high quality interactions throughout the day and show great interest in activities such as gardening. Children delight in discussing the 'decay of the plants and absorption of the water' as they use their observation skills outdoors. Children display excellent engagement when creating a robot from junk modelling resources and are skilfully supported to problem solve and develop their creativity. Furthermore, children have fun participating in cooking sessions and develop their knowledge of lots of mathematical language as they weigh out the different ingredients. Children evidently love attending and behave extremely well. On occasion, when more challenging behaviour arises, staff use clear communication and support children effectively to make more positive choices. Staff also frequently help children to understand their different feelings and emotions and support their personal, social and emotional development incredibly well.

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

• The nursery is run by an inspirational leadership team that demonstrates strong focus and commitment to delivering consistently high-quality care and education. Leaders work tirelessly with other professionals to ensure all children make the best possible progress during their time at the nursery. Leaders and staff create a highly reflective environment and work exceptionally hard to make impactful improvements. They engage in different research projects, for instance about the use of technology in early years and in relation to children's starting points, progress and outcomes. The team's passionate commitment to the development of the children that attend is truly inspiring.
• Staff prioritise the promotion of children's communication and language skills. For instance, staff use a language assessment tool to accurately assess children's language and comprehension skills and plan for their future learning. Staff are excellent role models. They frequently introduce new words, narrate children's play and test their understanding and knowledge by asking skilful questions that support children to develop their thinking skills and expressive language. As a result, children are confident communicators and make excellent progress in this area.
• Children show high levels of independence as they make their own choices and lead their own play. The environment created is a real labour of love. There is an excellent range of high-quality resources that help children to develop new knowledge and skills. Consequently, children display very positive attitudes towards learning and behave extremely well.
• Children have excellent opportunities to learn outdoors. Staff work in collaboration with students from a local college to design a 'sensory garden' and 'bug hotel' that children explore with great enthusiasm. Children also have brilliant opportunities to develop their gross motor skills and spatial awareness as they engage in challenging obstacle courses.
• Children show a strong sense of belonging at the nursery. Staff work closely with parents to understand about their home traditions and culture. Staff ensure familiar items from home are represented throughout the nursery. For instance, children play with prayer mats in the home corner and food packaging showing a range of different home languages. This helps children to develop a great appreciation for each other's similarities and differences.
• Children have superb opportunities to explore different mathematical concepts during play. Staff are excellent at incorporating counting and mathematics into children's play. For instance, staff help children to learn about concepts such as under, over and next to when reading stories. They also play fun board games that help them to develop their counting skills and recognition of numbers. Furthermore, children discuss different measurements and capacities when watering the plants and engaging in gardening experiences. Consequently, children have excellent mathematics skills and are highly curious learners.
• Staff know children extremely well. Children form very positive bonds with staff. Children enjoy peaceful and nurturing moments with staff where they watch clouds together and discuss the different patterns and shapes in the sky. It is evident that children are happy and feel emotionally secure at the nursery.
• Partnerships with parents are a strength. Staff arrange frequent stay-and-play sessions and events throughout the year to build relationships with families. They also deliver a range of parent workshops on supporting language development and toilet training to ensure children receive the highest levels of consistency at home. Parents state that they are extremely happy with the nursery. They highly value the staff members' dedication and commitment to their roles.