Foundation Nurseries (Farnham Green)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Managers and staff create an inclusive, warm, welcoming and safe environment for children and their parents. Children love attending, they feel at home and flourish at this delightful setting. Children and their families are warmly welcomed by caring staff, who know them and their needs well. Children are excited to meet their friends and play in the well-planned and resourced indoor and outdoor spaces, where they learn skills to prepare them for later life.

Children demonstrate they are enthusiastic and eager to learn. Staff provide children with a stimulating range of activities. For example, children enjoy using scissors and tweezers to explore cooked spaghetti. This helps children to develop strength and dexterity in their hand and finger muscles in preparation for their early writing. Staff support children with their early mathematical skills by naming shapes, predicting how many bricks will be needed to fill up the wheelbarrow and counting during daily routines. All children make good progress in their learning. Staff share their expectations for positive behaviour with the children. Staff consistently praise children for their good behaviour and achievements. Children share and take turns, and they are respectful and kind towards others.

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

• Staff plan activities so that children benefit from being outdoors in the extensive garden. Children climb, slide and pretend to make drinks at the lemonade stand. Staff support children to grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs. Children develop strength and stamina while they play. For example, when children practise digging, staff demonstrate how to use their foot to push the spade deeper into the mud.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Staff with responsibility for supporting children with SEND are committed to collaborating with parents and other professionals to ensure that children receive targeted support and gaps in their progress start to close.
• Parents are extremely happy with the care their children receive, they comment that their children have gained confidence since joining the nursery. Children and parents who speak English as an additional language are supported very well. The diverse staff team use various languages with the children and parents. Forms and letters are translated, when necessary.
• Overall, staff support children's growing language well. For example, they narrate and talk with the children as they play alongside them. However, at times, during planned activities there are inconsistencies in staff interactions. Some staff ask lots of questions without giving children adequate time to formulate their response and other staff miss opportunities to initiate a conversation with the children.
• Books are a strong feature of the nursery, and staff promote reading well and plan experiences based on familiar stories. For example, children have painted plant pots to plant their beans after reading 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. This helps to build on what children have previously learned.
• Large group times are planned well. Children listen intently to familiar stories that staff read in a captivating way. Children wait patiently for their turn in group activities and listen when their friends are talking. Staff help new children to learn each other's names during the daily welcome group times. Children express their feelings and staff support less-confident children to participate in their own way.
• The newly formed management team are passionate and have a clear vision for ongoing improvements. However, the managers have not yet focused professional development on enhancing staff's knowledge and practice to a higher level, at times staff miss opportunities to extend children's experiences. For instance, children at a water tray are unable to use the equipment to fill up and pour as there is not enough water in the tray.
• Care practises effectively support children's autonomy. Staff are sensitive and seek children's consent when providing intimate care. Staff are kind, polite and continuously give meaningful praise during daily routines. They encourage children to be independent and do things for themselves. Healthy eating advice and support is offered to parents when providing packed lunches for their children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to understand how to embed even more effective strategies, enabling all children to reach their full potential in their communication and language skills
• support the professional development of all staff to continually raise the quality of education for children across the nursery and extend learning experiences further.