Fledglings Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are settled, happy and content in this nursery. They are comfortable with their friends and staff, leaving parents at the entrance and excitedly greeting their key person in the rooms. They cheerfully greet any friends who arrive later. Settling-in procedures are flexible to suit each family. Staff gather information from parents about their children from their first visit. They work together to decide on an appropriate settling-in process. This often includes parents staying with their children for short periods, or the child building up their hours over a period of a few weeks. As a result, staff understand children's needs, and children settle very well.

Staff support children's behaviour by reinforcing simple rules and encouraging good manners and sharing. As a result, children behave very well and know what is expected of them. They share their resources with their friends and happily take turns during games. They understand simple rules to help keep them safe. For example, they form a line to go outside and know not to go out of the door until they have been counted. They understand not to run too fast on the paved area outside and to use wheeled toys in the designated space.

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

• Leaders have a clear vision for the nursery. They work closely with their staff team to plan an ambitious curriculum that supports children's good progress. They successfully consider how they can best support children to learn through play. This means that children develop their skills and build on their experiences over time.
• Leaders work very closely alongside their staff team. They share ideas and issues through daily, informal discussions and through more formal, regular supervision meetings. Staff comment that they feel supported in their roles and have plenty of opportunity to broaden their skills through additional training.
• Staff know children very well. Their understanding of child development helps them carry out accurate assessments of children's progress. Furthermore, this knowledge helps staff to identify any gaps in children's learning quickly. Leaders and staff promptly put in place any additional support and seek guidance from other professionals if required. This helps all children make good progress in their learning.
• Staff offer a balance of planned activities alongside child-initiated play based on broad topics. For example, children develop their fine motor skills as they thread wool through Easter-themed laminated cards. Children practise mathematical ideas as they count how many coloured eggs they can fit into an egg box.
• The environment is organised to offer children experiences across the seven areas of learning. Children benefit from plenty of time to choose what they want to play with and become involved in their learning. However, children do not have opportunities to access resources to explore and expand their own creative ideas both indoors and outdoors.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well. They model lots of language throughout the day and hold conversations with children. Staff comment on what babies do as they play. Older children hear staff say new words as they play alongside each other, then repeat these new words later. Children enjoy singing favourite songs and rhymes and listen attentively as staff read them stories.
• Leaders and staff create a relaxed, friendly and open environment where parents can talk to them about their children daily. Staff share information about children's development with parents regularly. As a result, partnerships with parents are strong. Parents comment that their children love coming to nursery, have blossomed in their care and are developing well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to provide more opportunities for children to explore and express their creative ideas.