Girls & Boys Nursery Warren Park

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff give children a warm welcome as they arrive at nursery. They know the children well and develop secure and nurturing relationships with them. Children are confident to seek out staff for play and reassurance such as cuddles when needed. Children thrive with the care they receive from the professional, kind and dedicated staff.

Staff take account of what interests the children. For instance, children explore the outside area and delight at searching for insects. Staff extend this learning through discussions with the children about what they have found. They organise the environment in a way that supports all children's next steps in development, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For example, children enjoy using the cosy reading spaces that staff have developed both inside and outside. They happily look at books of their choosing and enjoy listening intently to stories. This supports children's early literacy skills.

Staff support children to learn how to behave well. For instance, they encourage children to use cutlery safely and support them to develop appropriate table manners. Children develop good friendships. For example, younger children enjoy taking turns to blow bubbles and they laugh together as they chase the bubbles around the room. Furthermore, older children enjoy playing with their friends and have fun digging in the sand pit.

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

• Leaders are passionate about their roles. They recognise the importance of having a knowledgeable and skilled staff team to help children make progress. Leaders ensure effective, regular staff supervision sessions are in place and support staffs well-being. All staff have access to targeted training opportunities, which supports their professional development.
• Leaders and staff plan a clear and varied curriculum that supports children to continually make progress as they move through the nursery. For instance, they focus the curriculum for the youngest children on building attachments and providing a nurturing environment. For the older children, staff support children's social and self-help skills and help them to be ready for school. They also support children to learn about the wider world, taking them on outings to places, such as the farm. This supports children's learning and development.
• Leaders and staff are highly ambitious in supporting children with SEND. They sensitively adapt the provision to help children make the progress they are capable of. For example, they have used funding to develop calm spaces with sensory resources, to support children with regulating their emotions. Furthermore, they have developed a dedicated SEND area, where staff provide targeted activities to support children with their next steps in learning. Leaders make timely referrals and work closely with parents and other professionals. This supports children with SEND to make progress alongside their friends.
• Overall, staff support children's communication and language skills well. For instance, they use singing and action rhymes as part of everyday practice. Staff teach children other ways to communicate, such as using pictures and sign language. However, on occasion, staff do not give children the time they need to think and respond to the questions they ask. At these times, children's communication and language skills are not consistently supported.
• Staff promote children's well-being in a variety of ways. For example, staff talk to the children about the weather, and children understand why they need to have sun cream on. Staff teach children about the importance of good oral health. For instance, children learn how to brush their teeth and have visits from the dentist. This supports children to learn about keeping themselves healthy.
• Leaders and staff have recently developed the lunchtime routine, to further support children's social development and individual needs. For example, in the pre-school room they have established two separate lunch sessions, so children are provided with a calmer environment to eat their lunch. However, some daily routine activities, such as snack time, are not organised as successfully to support the needs of all children. At these times, the environment is loud and some children become restless and unsettled, meaning they do not benefit fully from the intended learning of the routine activity.
• Leaders and staff form excellent relationships with parents and support the children and families extremely well. Staff seek information from parents about languages spoken at home and their cultural heritage. They have daily conversations with parents and share children's progress and next steps in learning. Staff share ideas and resources to continue children's learning at home. For instance, children enjoy taking books home from the lending library.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance staff's skills in offering support for children to think and process information when asking them questions, to promote their critical thinking and communication skills further
• strengthen the organisation of daily routine activities, to ensure children benefit fully from the intended learning.