Fitzsimmons Place Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and their families receive a warm welcome upon arrival and children settle well in the care of the staff team. Children show that they feel safe and secure at the setting and approach staff for support and reassurance, which they give without question. Babies receive support from staff to enhance their physical development and practise their new-found skills. For example, staff set out the environment with equipment that babies can use to pull themselves to standing and walk around. Older babies thoroughly enjoy immersing themselves in creative play. They make masterpieces from printing the toy animals' foot prints. Children choose the animals they would like to use, building their awareness of decision making. Young children enjoy singing times and act promptly when they hear a song that they recognise, running to join in. They join in with the actions to the songs, clapping their hands when the bubble bursts. This enhances children's engagement and physical development.

Pre-school children explore water play and increase their small-muscle development. For example, they use large pipettes to squirt water and pour it from one vessel to another. Older children successfully demonstrate the skills they have learned over time. For example, they put on their wet-weather clothing and persevere in using zips. This enables children to be independent and to do tasks for themselves in readiness for their move on to the next stage of learning or school. Staff understand the rational for the activities they offer and how these link to the focus for the curriculum and what children need to learn next. Staff use children's interests to strengthen their engagement.

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

• Leaders have a clear and well targeted plan for the curriculum and the aspirations for teaching and learning across the setting. Leaders devise a clearly sequenced curriculum that is ambitious for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This enables all children to gain the skills and attributes they need to be 'life ready' and to reach their potential within their level of ability.
• Leaders create an ethos of effective teamwork, with a focus on good staff morale and well-being. Leaders use clear processes for recruitment, induction and ongoing development. Staff report that they receive high levels of support in their roles and for them to increase and improve their professionalism.
• There is a highly effective key-person structure and children develop strong bonds with staff. Staff work with their key groups throughout the day, sitting with them for activities while out in the garden and during mealtimes. This helps contribute to children feeling a strong sense of belonging and be ready to play, learn and discover.
• Children learn about how to manage their emotions and staff redirect children's attention effectively. However, staff sometimes use strategies that are too advanced for young children to understand. For example, they tell children that they can 'have a turn in a minute.' This does not help children to learn to manage minor conflicts independently and to understand the passage of time.
• Staff embrace children's heritage, cultures and family structures. They celebrate children's home languages and those events that are relevant to the children attending. This enables children to learn about similarities and differences and about their immediate community and the wider world.
• Staff promote children's early literacy development and interest in reading. Children delight in looking at books, which staff enhance with puppets to extend the learning experience. However, sometimes, staff use pet names for things, which does not support children's understanding of correct pronunciation. Furthermore, staff ask children too many questions at once, not fully enhancing children's understanding of the flow of a conversation.
• There is a strong family ethos at the setting, with staff working in full partnership with parents. Parents report that there is effective support, enabling children to settle quickly and to acclimatise to their new rooms as they move through the age groups. Parents comment about their children's developmental progression, especially in their language skills and confidence.
• Staff enable children to develop good mathematical awareness, and they focus on children being fully secure in their understanding of number. They teach children about differences in shape, size and colour and use effective questioning techniques. Children begin to use simple calculations, for example understanding that two and two makes four.
• Staff support children and families with events and changes in their lives. For example, they offer packs for toilet training and resource bags for life events, such as grief and loss. This supports families during times of change and provides information on how to help their children navigate through differing circumstances.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's understanding of supporting children's awareness of the passage of time to help them develop the skills to take turns
• enhance staff's awareness of the importance of using the correct pronunciation of words and of giving children time to respond to questions staff pose.