Flying Start @ Illogan

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The manager and staff are dedicated to providing a welcoming nursery at the centre of the local community. Children feel safe and secure and gain a sense of belonging. Staff are caring role models and encourage children to cooperate and share toys. Older children are friendly towards each other and help younger children, for example, with finding their boots to go outside.

The manager has a clear and coherent vision for what children need to learn for their future development. The curriculum is structured well with a particular focus on supporting children's personal, social and emotional skills. Learning is sequenced highly effectively. Children continually build on their skills across the curriculum through many opportunities to be independent. Even the youngest children scrape leftover food into the bin and wash up their plates after lunch. They show pride in helping and develop very positive attitudes to learning.

Children spend a great deal of time outdoors. Staff plan for them to understand how to grow produce that they can enjoy harvesting and eating. Children are busy, active and inquisitive about the world they live in. For example, they enjoy watching the rain falling into puddles and exclaim, 'Look at the great big drops making a river!'

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

• Parents speak very highly of the nursery. Staff ensure that they work in close and effective partnership with parents to ensure consistency and continuity in children's development. Parents comment on the value of the regular conversations they have with staff about children's progress. They say they feel confident that children are safe and secure in the setting and do well in their learning and development.
• Children become confident and adept communicators. Staff create an atmosphere where children are able to listen to others and express their own views. For example, mealtimes are social occasions where staff sit with children to talk about their day. They encourage conversation and children gain good social skills.
• Staff are skilled in supporting children to achieve their next steps in development as opportunities arise. For example, when children are playing with cars, staff encourage them to count the cars in a line and make simple calculations. Children are able to talk about how many cars they have when they add one more car to the line. They gain a good grasp of mathematical concepts and develop their counting skills well.
• Staff clearly understand child development and skilfully interact with children positively as they play. This supports their learning well. However, at times, staff miss chances to reinforce and extend children's thinking even further. For example, this could be done by asking more searching questions that help them to explore their own ideas and deepen their understanding.
• The manager and staff are highly reflective of the service they provide for children and families. They work together as a committed team to make improvements that provide children with high-quality experiences. They have reviewed the outdoor spaces to ensure that children have more opportunities for physical challenge. The manager deploys staff effectively throughout the setting, and they supervise children diligently at all times.
• Staff comment that they really enjoy working at the nursery. They have good opportunities for professional development and feel valued by the manager. They enjoy building on their particular strengths through training and sharing good practice with their colleagues. The manager monitors staff regularly and supports them in their work with children.
• There are strong links with local schools to ensure that children experience a positive start to school life. They gain life skills that support them to go on to school. The manager talks to school staff about how to help children to develop the skills they need for moving on in their education. School staff visit the nursery so that children become familiar with the teachers and look forward to their future learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide coaching and mentoring to staff to develop interactions with children even further to help children deepen their understanding and make greater strides in their learning.