Garden Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and settle well in the nursery. Staff support children's learning and development well. Staff plan a curriculum that stimulates children's interests and offers challenge. Children show positive attitudes to their learning. They are keen to explore the activities provided. Staff build good relationships and bonds with children. They keep parents well informed of their child's progress. Children gain a range of skills and make good progress in their learning. They benefit from high-quality care and an effective learning environment. Staff support children to prepare for their eventual move on to school.

Staff are calm and kind towards children. They are attentive to the needs of babies and offer them emotional comfort when they are upset. Children get on well with one another and generally demonstrate good behaviour. Staff support parents to ensure that there is continuity with their child's learning and development at home.

Staff provide opportunities for children to develop their independence skills. For example, young babies use spoons to feed themselves, and toddlers pour their own drinks. Older children follow recipe cards and measure ingredients to make play dough. Children enjoy mixing different ingredients as part of a science experiment with bicarbonate of soda. They excitedly describe what is happening, saying, 'Fantastic, it's like a volcano,' when the mixed ingredients fizz and bubble over the pot.

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

• Staff support children's early literacy skills well and help them to develop a love of books. They read stories to children and encourage them to join in with repeated phrases. Staff ask children questions to check their understanding and support them to recall the key events of the story. For example, when they ask children how many strawberries the hungry caterpillar ate, children confidently work out and reply, 'Four strawberries.'
• Staff act as good role models to children. They demonstrate how to be kind and speak calmly with one another. Staff remind children how to play kindly and safely. However, staff do not consistently remind children of their expectations, such as to listen and wait for their turn in group times and to say 'please' and 'thank you' to each other.
• Staff work in partnership with parents. They discuss children's key interests and use this information to plan stimulating activities. Staff also support parents to extend their children's learning at home. For instance, they share children's next steps in development and the learning that their children are currently doing in the nursery.
• Children enjoy exploring the outdoor area. They benefit from engaging in activities to develop their gross motor skills. Staff promote physical play and encourage children to follow healthy and active lifestyles. For example, children enjoy riding bicycles, climbing on the climbing frame and throwing and catching balls. Children also enjoy planting. This helps them to learn about the natural world.
• Leaders support staff to promote children's communication and language development well. They place an importance on expanding children's vocabularies and creating a language-rich environment. Staff introduce children to new vocabulary and plan activities that ignite children's curiosity. For example, during circle time, children learn new vocabulary to describe their different emotions. This helps children to also share how they are feeling.
• Staff encourage children to count when opportunities arise during activities. For example, during snack time, staff ask children to count how many pieces of fruit there are. This helps children to achieve a good understanding of number.
• Leaders work closely with parents, staff and the local authority inclusion team to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders make timely referrals to ensure that children receive the right support.
• Staff benefit from regular coaching and mentoring from leaders. This helps leaders to identify specific areas of development for individual staff members. Leaders then provide opportunities to further enhance staff's teaching practice and professional development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to securely and consistently reinforce high expectations of children's behaviour and conduct.