Fennies Beech House

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a warm and friendly welcome on arrival. They provide cuddles and exchange information with parents to support children's well-being. The key-person system helps children to build strong attachments and feel safe and secure. Staff place a strong emphasis on children's personal, social and emotional development. They promote independence and self-help skills through giving praise and encouraging children to try things for themselves. This raises children's self-esteem and gives them a sense of pride in their achievements. Staff support children to learn about their emotions and understand how their actions can affect others.

All children benefit from a well-planned and sequenced curriculum. Staff provide a range of fun and challenging activities that build on children's interests and previous experiences to extend their learning. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For example, babies develop their sensory skills as they feel sand and mix paint and cornflour. Staff interact well and encourage the babies to explore the different textures. Older children show excitement as they hold the Giant African land snail and find other snails in the garden. They learn about different features and make up stories linking initial letter sounds, which extends their literacy skills.

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

• Key persons and parents work together at the start to gather and share detailed information about new children. This helps staff get to know the children and build relationships. Staff continue using observations and assessments to check children are making good progress. This includes progress checks for children aged between two and three years. Staff address any gaps in learning and identify children's next steps. However, staff do not consistently share these next steps and learning ideas with all parents to support continued learning at home.
• Staff actively promote children's communication and language. They engage children in conversations, ask meaningful questions and give children time to think and answer. Staff encourage back-and-forth interactions, introduce new vocabulary and repeat words and sounds. Children enjoy stories, singing and games to support their communication skills. However, staff in the baby room do not consistently plan for and model accurate pronunciation, which reduces how effectively the communication and language curriculum is implemented for the youngest children.
• Partnerships with parents are strong, overall. They speak highly of the nursery staff and say their children enjoy attending. Many parents state they receive regular updates on their children's progress and acknowledge the improvements their children have made since attending. This includes in their language development, independence and self-help skills. Parents are regularly invited to attend events and can access training sessions to support their parenting journey.
• Children have regular opportunities to learn about healthy lifestyles. Staff plan activities to help children develop their large muscles. For example, babies develop their walking and climb stairs to use the slide. Older children ride bikes, roll hoops and use stepping buckets to develop their balance and coordination. Children follow good hygiene routines and learn about the importance of oral health. Staff encourage children to eat nutritious meals and try new foods.
• Staff promote a culture of diversity and inclusion, and children learn about different religious and cultural festivals. This helps children to learn about their own uniqueness and gain an understanding of others and the wider world. Leaders work with other professionals and make referrals to support children with SEND and those who need additional support.
• Staff are passionate about their work and work collaboratively across all rooms. They communicate effectively and are deployed to ensure that children are being supervised well. Staff record any accidents and notify parents. Staff role model expected behaviour and support children to manage their emotions. They reinforce nursery rules and give gentle reminders. Children share resources, are kind to their peers and behave well.
• Leaders ensure robust recruitment procedures are in place. All staff complete inductions and understand their roles and responsibilities. Leaders are supportive of staff mental well-being and monitor practice and staff training. Leaders and staff reflect on their practice, seek views from parents and evaluate to help them make further improvements.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen partnerships with parents so they have a more in-depth understanding of their children's learning and they are guided to support this further at home
• improve the implementation of the communication and language curriculum in the baby room to ensure staff consistently model accurate pronunciation and language as part of planned learning experiences.