Flying Start Nursery - Camborne

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in this exceptional nursery. Staff deliver a well-thought-out and purposeful curriculum, which skilfully incorporates children's individual interests and identified learning goals. Children show great interest in the exciting activities and experiences on offer. For example, children thoroughly enjoy helping to prepare their midday meal as part of their 'cooking club'. Babies and young children choose extra flavours to add to the bread mix. Pre-school children learn how to peel and cut vegetables. There is a strong ethos around children growing their own produce, cooking with it, and eating it. This has hugely increased children's knowledge and understanding of where their food comes from. Every effort is made to ensure that children reach their full potential, including those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). All children make rapid progress throughout their time in the nursery.

The curriculum has children's communication and language development at its heart. Staff are highly skilled communicators. They model a vast range of words for children during their play and make excellent use of specialised teaching strategies. Staff are very nurturing and are excellent role models. They offer children encouragement and praise, while also giving them the time to do things for themselves. Children's behaviour is exemplary. The atmosphere throughout the nursery is one of genuine respect and happiness.

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

• The manager is enthusiastic and highly knowledgeable. Her improvements are well embedded in practice by the dedicated staff team. Leaders express their pride of staff's positive attitudes to being the best they can be. They provide excellent professional development opportunities, which ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills they need to deliver the highest standard of care and learning. Staff report that there are high levels of support for their well-being. They are very keen for children to experience sensory play to encourage their learning through exploration, curiosity, problem-solving, and creativity. Staff are very supportive of each other and are confident to share ideas and practice to continually enhance the quality of education.
• Staff help children to remember what they already know through incisive questioning that develops children's recall and retelling skills. For example, following children's immense enjoyment of making vegetable soup for their lunch, they decide to make 'flower soup' while playing in the garden's mud kitchen. Children excitedly squeeze lemons to add 'special juice' to water. Children talk about the 'secret ingredients' that the cook always include, and they find leaves and petals to add. Children demonstrate a wonderfully positive approach to their learning. They apply previously learned facts in different contexts, which demonstrates the excellent teaching that these children experience.
• Staff build valuable, trusting relationships with families. Parents express how well their children are cared for and supported to make outstanding progress. Parents feel well informed of what their child is learning and why. They speak highly of the support provided to continue children's learning at home. Children enjoy borrowing books and activity bags, and keenly share these with their families. Popular monthly stay-and-play sessions provide wonderful opportunities for family members to take part in exciting experiences and enjoy special food that has been made by their children.
• There is a strong focus on promoting inclusive practice. Additional funding is used well to meet children's individual needs. Staff competently use visual aids and Makaton signing. This helps to deepen children's understanding of words and events. Pre-school children who need help with talking and understanding words benefit from a well-delivered programme. Precise and accurate assessments show that all children greatly improve their language skills.
• Children have an abundance of opportunities to be physically active and to acquire essential skills. They greatly enjoy the spacious, well-resourced outdoor areas, and develop a strong connection to nature, self-discovery, and growth. Staff have completed specialised training and enthusiastically engage children in fun activities to promote children's motor skills, reflexes and core stability. This helps children to develop a better understanding of the benefits of being active.
• Staff secure the timely assistance of other professionals to ensure that children and their families receive any additional support they need. There is highly effective liaison with schools, and teachers regularly visit the nursery. This helps to make the transition process more manageable for children, particularly those with SEND.