Fareacres Pre-School & Day Nursery - Gants Hill

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive excited to start their session at this welcoming nursery. They separate easily from their parents, who share relevant information with key persons to ensure that children's daily care needs are met. Staff focus on building children's confidence and independence skills. Once inside, children self-register, hang up their coats and belongings and then happily join their friends at an activity. Key persons know their key children well. Overall, they plan the curriculum to take account of children's individual interests and learning needs. The curriculum is well sequenced, allowing children to build on their knowledge and skills as they move through the nursery.

The atmosphere is calm and purposeful. This allows children to focus and concentrate when playing. Children's behaviour is good. Staff help them to understand how to behave well and why certain behaviours are not acceptable. Children's personal and social skills are also good. They show respect and consideration for others. For example, staff encourage children in the pre-school room to pour water for each other and pass bowls of food and cutlery to their 'neighbour' when they have finished serving themselves. Staff have high expectations, and most children make good progress, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). When gaps in children's learning and development are identified, staff take swift action to address them.

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

• Managers and staff develop strong relationships with parents. They make sure that parents are kept up to date with their children's progress and understand how to support their learning at home. Parents are very positive about the nursery and emphasise the high standards of care their children receive.
• Staff are hardworking and dedicated. They discuss how managers positively support their professional development and general well-being. Staff say their views on how to improve the nursery are always taken seriously and acted on where appropriate.
• Staff are very kind and nurturing. They support children's emotional development by encouraging them to talk about their feelings and helping them to understand why they feel they way they do. Children new to the nursery quickly become confident, as staff plan individual settling-in programmes for them based on the information parents provide about their children's interests and care needs.
• Overall, teaching is of a good standard. Most staff understand how young children learn. They plan interesting activities that engage children and encourage them to practise and develop their skills. However, some staff do not always use opportunities to extend children's play and ideas. Therefore, when working with these staff, some children do not make as much progress as they could.
• Children are encouraged to practise their skills in many different areas of learning while playing. For example, staff ask children who are washing the dolls in the water tray to count the number of dolls and name different parts of their doll's body.
• In general, the support for children's communication and language is good. Most staff expose children to spoken English by talking to them constantly about what they are doing and asking questions to generate conversations. However, some staff working with the youngest children do not model spoken English enough or consistently encourage children to practise using simple words and phrases when communicating.
• Understanding the world is a strong feature of the curriculum. Children learn about the natural world around them when playing outside. For example, they plant potatoes and learn how to look after the plants by watering them frequently. Children excitedly harvest the potatoes when they are ready, talking about how long it has taken for them to grow and how they know the potatoes are ready to dig up.
• Children with SEND are very well supported. Most staff have a great deal of experience working with children with SEND. This means that they are able to identify gaps in children's learning and development early on. Staff plan targeted interventions to ensure that children make progress.
• Children clearly understand the nursery's routines. Staff talk to them about the next activity and what they expect them to do during transitions. They use visual timetables to support children's understanding. All children behave appropriately during changes between activities and follow staff's instructions well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's teaching to consistently provide children with opportunities to extend their knowledge, skills and thinking
• support staff to model spoken English frequently and encourage children to practise their early communication skills.