Fernbank Childrens Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily and feel safe and secure in a stimulating learning environment. They settle readily and choose from a range of planned activities and available resources. New babies receive lots of cuddles and attention from their key person to help them settle. Children make friends to play with, and they develop secure attachments with staff through the year. Their behaviour is good as staff show awareness of children's emotional well-being.

Children are motivated to learn from new experiences. For example, older children eagerly try out mathematical comparative activities and vocabulary when measuring sand in different-sized containers. Younger children learn to roll and fold play dough into different shapes. They practise new skills. For example, babies imitate movements as they listen to the enthusiastic singing with sign language by staff. Children listen intently and follow instructions. They learn to draw, and older children write their names. This helps to promote their small-muscle development and early literacy skills. Children learn to move in different ways outdoors and have good opportunities to develop their core strength, for instance when using a climbing wall. Babies enjoy regular outdoor sessions where they learn to explore natural resources. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their learning from their starting points.

Children are becoming increasingly independent in their self-care skills. For instance, staff encourage babies to use spoons to feed themselves from an early age. Toddlers learn to manage their personal care needs and wash their hands before mealtimes. This helps children to learn lifelong skills ready for their future.

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

• Leaders have clear plans for a well-sequenced and ambitious curriculum with appropriate learning outcomes for children. Staff are aware of the curriculum intentions, and activities are pitched at the right level. This means that, at most times, children demonstrate high levels of engagement in their learning. However, staff do not always have relevant information about children when they move to a different group. As a result, they cannot always continue immediately with plans to meet children's needs soon after transition.
• Children learn about the world and their local community. They go on trips to local places of interest, such as parks and playgrounds. Children learn about a variety of celebrations, which helps them to develop an understanding of the lives of their friends. Children learn about healthy meals as staff discuss this during the daily activities. For example, staff help children to think about nutritious food as they talk about their breakfasts during a creative activity.
• Children are developing a secure understanding of mathematics and number value. Staff have a good knowledge of how to bring the teaching of mathematics into everyday routines. They model mathematical words during lunch, such as 'one more spoonful' and 'a smaller portion', which children then repeat in their interactions.
• The strategies for children who speak English as an additional language are generally effective. For settling babies, keywords in children's home language are used sometimes. This helps to increase children's sense of belonging and allows children to feel comforted in their care.
• Children benefit from a language-rich environment. Staff engage children in conversations and provide a narrative while they play. They support children to develop a love for books and reading. Children thoroughly enjoy joining in with storytelling and singing at group times. Older children take part in group activities and take turns to talk and share their views.
• Partnership working is strong. Links with the local authority are good. Children with SEND are supported well, with staff using relevant support from external services. Staff work closely with the local schools and other professionals. Staff are alert to any signs that a child might need additional support.
• Parents speak highly of the staff at the nursery. They comment that they are kept well informed through regular emails about their child's care, learning and development. Parents report that dropping their children to their child's room has had a positive impact on their involvement in their children's learning. They feel that since attending the nursery, their children have made good progress in many aspects of their development.
• The leadership team has a good understanding of what the setting does well and what it needs to improve. However, staff do not all have regular supervisions to discuss their well-being. They feel that they would benefit further from ongoing professional support.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the sharing of children's information as they move on to different rooms, so that their learning outcomes are consistently high
• provide more targeted supervision for all staff, to support their well-being at work.