Flying Start Nursery - Redruth

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery provides a highly nurturing environment where children are extremely emotionally secure and happy. The management team prioritises the well-being of children and staff, recognising the impact this has on their ability to deliver and receive high-quality care and education.

Children are highly motivated and become engrossed in their learning because staff use children's interests to plan for their development. They skilfully observe the children as they play, allowing them to have a key role in their learning. Staff know exactly when to move children's ideas on and challenge them even further. For example, children develop excellent hand-to-eye coordination as they manipulate oats through the neck of a bottle. Staff introduce prepositions and mathematical language, such as half full, empty, on top and underneath. Children use their imaginations extremely well as staff engage them in discussions about what they are making. When children suggest it is hot, older children get them oven gloves, moving their learning to the role play, where staff encourage their ideas to escalate. Children have high levels of curiosity and a thirst for learning.

Parents no longer enter the nursery as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they comment that they now see this as a benefit, as their children settle much quicker. The key workers who had to work throughout the lockdowns are extremely grateful for the support the nursery gave them, without whom they could not have done their part. They highly praise the excellent communication.

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

• The manager's ambitious intent for every child, including those with special educational needs, is implemented very successfully. Staff have embedded their revised curriculum and new assessment system, which they use highly effectively to have an outstanding awareness of what each child is capable of and what they need to learn next. Managers work exceptionally well with outside agencies to ensure the enthusiastic team meets children's individual needs extremely well.
• All children are excellent communicators. Staff competently develop the children's skills. For example, as toddlers add couscous to their play dough, staff help them to recall having it cooked for lunch. Staff narrate what children are doing and extend their vocabulary, for example by using cookery books in their role play and pointing out the different ways they are kneading their dough. Children learning English as an additional language very rapidly gain the confidence to speak.
• Children arrive excited to explore the exceptionally well-planned environment. For example, toddlers recognise different herbs as they start making potions in the garden, and older children want staff to join them in making scales balance. Managers and room leaders are highly enthusiastic role models, so teaching is of a consistently strong standard. Staff have ambitious expectations of what the children can achieve, so children believe in their own capabilities and persevere to accomplish a task.
• Children's behaviour is exemplary. They understand the staff's high expectations and play together harmoniously. The highly inclusive nursery has an exceptionally positive culture of celebrating differences, and children recognise their own uniqueness. There is a strong focus on children's personal, social and emotional development, which robustly underpins their confidence to learn. Staff empower children to have a 'can-do' attitude, seeing problems as a learning opportunity. For example, children find different ways of making materials stick together when glue does not work. Children develop outstanding attitudes, which prepares them exceptionally well for their next stages of learning and school.
• The nursery has a strong ethos of children growing their own produce and then cooking with it and eating it. This has had a significant impact on their incredible approach to new foods. For example, every day, even the young children are involved in choosing ingredients to add when making bread, such as courgette and cheese. Older children use peelers and knives to prepare vegetables and make soup. Then all the children have these later for their tea. Children thrive at the nursery, where they gain an excellent understanding of how to take care of their personal needs and the importance of healthy practices.
• Staff confirm the excellent support their receive from the management team. The meticulous monitoring of the quality of teaching ensures extremely well-targeted professional development and bespoke training. For example, the manager and deputy supervise newly qualified staff, providing them with outstanding guidance. Managers have a superb understanding of the expertise within their staff and empower them to disseminate their knowledge. This enables all staff to implement outstanding teaching, which impacts significantly on children's development.