Garden House Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create an exciting, friendly and inviting environment for children. As a result, on arrival, children readily leave their parents at the door. Staff ensure that activities reflect children's interests. For example, when they show an interest in superheroes, staff provide resources and activities for children to access to develop their imagination. As a result, most children quickly engage in play. They have formed strong friendships with others and play harmoniously together. For example, in the sand tray, children work together to fill buckets of sand, giggling when sand overflows. Younger children spend time with staff building towers out of wooden blocks. Overall, they develop a positive attitude to learning and confidently lead their own play.

The leadership team has a clear vision for the skills they want children to acquire before starting school. They have designed a broad and balanced curriculum that includes opportunities for play both indoors and outside. Consequently, all children, including those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress in their learning and development.

The nursery celebrates and values the diverse backgrounds of all children, encouraging them to share their experiences. This helps children to value their own identity and respect the similarities and differences of others.

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

• Children are becoming confident communicators. Staff encourage an early love of books as they read to children in group story time. They introduce children to a wide range of vocabulary through play and learning activities. For example, staff encourage children to describe the textures of the materials they use when planting seeds; they model words such as 'squishy' to describe an alternative word to soft.
• Overall, staff interact well with children. For instance, when the children pretend to make food in the role-play kitchen, staff join in to build on and support children's imagination. Children eagerly make different meals for staff to sample. Staff spend time with children creating structures with magnetic shapes. However, staff are not always quick to identify when some children might need further support to engage fully in their play and learning.
• Children behave well. Staff use consistent strategies to remind children of what is expected and why actions such as throwing sand are not safe. Staff help children to understand the routines of the day. For instance, when a timer is set, children know they have five minutes left to play before tidying up. This helps children bring their play to a satisfactory end and prepares them for what comes next. As a result, transition times are calm and efficient.
• Children learn to take responsibility and develop compassion and empathy for nursery pets. Staff organise a rota for children to help with tasks such as cleaning and feeding them. Children explain to visitors how they bring in carrots from home as treats for the nursery rabbit.
• Children enjoy being physically active with the encouragement and support of adults. For example, in the garden, babies beam with pride when they practise their walking, with staff allowing them the time to succeed. Older children develop their balance and coordination as they walk on bucket stilts, showing increasing confidence in their abilities. Children manipulate play dough with their hands to make pretend cupcakes. This helps to develop the muscles in their hands in preparation for early writing.
• Staff know their children well and are kind and caring. They make sure that children have access to individual books filled with family photographs to help provide comfort while settling in. However, recent changes in staff have impacted the effectiveness of the key-person system, making it more difficult for children to build strong attachments. As a result, babies take longer to settle.
• The leadership team are supportive of their team. Staff report feeling happy in their roles and are confident in sharing their thoughts and ideas. They reflect on their own practices, evaluating the quality of their work and considering ways to continually develop their skills and knowledge.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to better recognise when some children may need additional support to help them engage in their learning
• continue to establish the key-person system with new staff to ensure children form secure attachments and their emotional well-being is supported effectively.