Flying Start Nurseries

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, joyful and enthusiastic in this setting. They enjoy singing with staff, taking turns to choose their favourite songs. Children join in with the 'wheels on the bus go round and round', eagerly participating, demonstrating their understanding of dynamics by singing softly about babies and laughing together as they sing about dads snoring on the bus.

Staff have good expectations of what children can achieve and provide opportunities for them to apply their skills and knowledge. For instance, children learn woodworking skills with support from staff. They learn safety procedures and confidently explain how rules keep them safe, such as why shoes and safety glasses are essential for protection. This approach fosters children's maturity, as children recall previous learning and attentively follow instructions. Children confidently name tools and use them safely. Staff provide one-to-one guidance as children design, measure and saw wood using appropriately sized tools, further enhancing their focus and motivation.

Structured routines are well-established to support children's well-being and promote smooth transitions between activities. Children form good relationships with staff and peers as they regularly engage in planned activities with their key person. They build good social skills and collaboration among their friends.

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

• The provider's curriculum is ambitious and builds on children's interests. They have designed a curriculum that systematically provides children with the skills and knowledge they need to learn progressively over time. For example, staff introduce babies to simple ideas about the world around them such as transport, encouraging them to observe buses as they wave to the driver while modelling early language development to them. Older children build on previously acquired knowledge and learn how different vehicles operate in various environments.
• Staff accurately assess children's needs, identifying what they need to learn next to make effective progress. They plan enjoyable curriculum activities, incorporating children's interests with the skills and knowledge they need to learn. However, some learning tasks that staff design distract children from their intended learning. For instance, when staff teach children numerals, toy cars distract them, which limits their ability to focus and practise the skills they need to develop.
• Staff interactions with children are caring and attentive. They engage children well and maintain good relationships by speaking to them respectfully and gently. Children are confident, quickly settle and engage well with one another. Staff interactions also support children in developing self-belief. These build children's confidence to persevere when they are working on tricky puzzles.
• Children frequently enjoy books and choose the ones they want to read with staff. Younger children benefit from staff sharing books alongside them, while staff engage older children well in storytelling sessions using puppets. However, staff occasionally do not do enough to teach children to elaborate on the vocabulary they learned from books and use it in their own communication and language.
• Children have positive attitudes toward learning. The provider has established routines that support their well-being and help them quickly engage in planned learning activities. Children are highly motivated and respond to staff instructions. Staff help children have a positive attitude by helping them recall good personal attributes such as 'I am kind' or 'I am brave'. Children enjoy recalling these and noticing these attributes in their play.
• The provider works effectively with parents. Staff share children's achievements and discuss with them when they have concerns about their development. When necessary, the provider is proactive in working with external agencies to secure the support that children need to ensure they are well-prepared for future learning. The provider's key-person system is well embedded, working with parents to prioritise children's well-being.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to design curriculum-based activities that sharply focus on their intended learning, so children can practise the skills and knowledge they need to make even more progress
• strengthen the consistency of staff teaching skills, particularly for reading, so children can elaborate and use the vocabulary they have learned from books.