Flying Start Nursery - Marjon

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and content in this nursery, where they develop strong friendships with their peers and enjoy playing together. The nursery has a good curriculum, and the staff know how to implement it effectively. As a result, children are well prepared for the next stage of learning. In the pre-school, staff guide children to be ready for school by encouraging them to take part in group sessions, supporting them to take turns and teaching them to listen to others. The nursery provides rich learning experiences, both indoors and outdoors, with a focus on physical development and making healthy nutritional choices. Every morning, staff provide children of all ages with an uninterrupted hour of physical activities, followed by cooking sessions. Pre-school children develop their hand manipulation skills and independence as they cook, making garlic butter to add to their lunch. Meanwhile, toddlers and babies explore the smells and textures of garlic. The nursery also offers food therapy sessions to support children in eating a wider range of foods, which helps them develop an understanding of food and nutrition and to make healthy food choices confidently. The nursery provides healthy lunches that children thoroughly enjoy.

Pre-school children extend their knowledge into their role play, eagerly pretending to be waiters and asking staff what they would like to eat for lunch, pretending to write down the orders. Staff develop strong attachments with children, making them feel safe, secure and ready to learn. Children of all ages enjoy cuddles of reassurance from staff.

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

• Staff nurture children to develop an understanding of the wider world through a wide range of discussions. They guide pre-school children to learn about different countries. In small groups, they read letters received from 'Bertie, the pen pal' who travels the globe and shares information about what they have seen. Staff guide children to explore the Thai celebration of Loy Krathong. They help children to locate where Thailand is on a world map and explore videos showing Thai boats filled with flowers float down a river as part of the celebration. Staff guide children to develop knowledge and understanding of the world, other religions and cultural celebrations.
• Staff have a good understanding of child development. They provide babies with a wide range of age-appropriate learning experiences. Babies are guided to enjoy the outdoors, exploring natural materials and developing their understanding of insects and plants in their own forest school area. When babies are ready, staff support them through well-planned transitions between the baby and toddler room, ensuring children feel confident and secure.
• The nursery curriculum focuses on developing children's communication skills. As a part of this, staff nurture children of all ages to develop a love of books and stories. They ensure that books are read to small groups of children throughout the day. Staff read in interesting and engaging voices, and children enjoy joining in on the parts they know. However, during other interactions, staff in the toddler and pre-school areas do not always support children in exploring their interests and ideas further.
• Leaders recognise the importance of building children's confidence in mathematics. In the pre-school, staff help older children understand simple addition by counting the number of boys and girls in the circle, for instance. They then write the simple sum on the board. Some older children can write a few number symbols themselves.
• Staff enjoy working at the nursery and report feeling well supported by the rest of the team and the provider. The provider offers a range of training opportunities for staff. Some recently undertook forest school training. This has been incorporated into the development of the outdoor 'shepherd huts' and trips to the local forest, guiding children to explore the natural surroundings more. As a result, this has had a positive impact on child development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide older children with opportunities to explore their ideas and interests even more deeply.