Grasshopper Day Nursery (Aylesbury)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive an outstanding start to their education. Each child is recognised as a unique individual, and the manager and her team have the highest aspirations for them. Children separate with confidence from their parents and carers. They form strong attachments with their key person. As such, children thrive due to the care they receive. This helps them feel safe and secure in the care of the professional and dedicated staff.

The manager and her team have designed an incredibly ambitious curriculum. Children access inspiring play spaces that spark their curiosity and imagination. For instance, staff create a superb small-world activity in response to children's interests in dinosaurs. The quality of teaching is exceptional. Staff's interactions extend children's knowledge and skills across all areas of the curriculum. For instance, as children are painting dinosaurs, staff use factual books to extend their knowledge. Children engage in conversation with staff and learn the names of the dinosaurs and interesting facts, such as that some dinosaurs were carnivores while others were omnivores.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They teach children about different emotions and provide them with the necessary tools to help them manage their own feelings. Children's behaviour is highly impressive, and this supports their overall well-being.

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

• Children have ample opportunities to develop their independence skills. For instance, staff provide a 'self-care station', where children access tissues to manage their care needs. They give children plenty of time to finish their chosen activities. For instance, staff gently tell children lunch is ready. This allows them to decide when they would like to eat and gives children real autonomy over their choices. As such, lunch is a calm and pleasant experience where children talk with their friends.
• Children's communication and language development is outstanding. A love for reading is embedded throughout the nursery, and children regularly learn new vocabulary, which they use in their play. For example, children ignite their senses as they learn the names of various herbs and sing an abundance of different nursery rhymes.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are especially well supported by highly skilled staff. Staff provide targeted activities to help develop children's language and communication skills. They develop detailed support plans alongside parents and other agencies to ensure that all children make the best possible progress.
• Children lead exceptionally healthy lives at nursery. Staff use play opportunities to talk about oral hygiene. They follow meticulous nursery procedures to keep children safe and healthy, including meeting the needs of those with dietary needs.
• Transitions in the nursery are extremely well organised. Parents come into the setting to settle their children in. Key persons complete in-depth handover information, which supports children to settle and continue to make excellent progress as they move through the rooms in the nursery. This supports children's emotional well-being.
• Children who speak English as an additional language develop their understanding of the English language quickly. They are provided with excellent, individualised support. Staff ask parents to create recordings of key words to help them learn to correctly pronounce words in the child's home language. Furthermore, staff expertly create visual prompt cards to support their understanding of the daily routine. This helps to provide a safe and predictable environment for the children to learn in.
• Children's behaviour is excellent. Staff are awe-inspiring role models for children. They consistently show children how to be respectful of others and model excellent ways of communicating with each other. For example, very young children learn to share as they scoop flour while making play dough. Staff are patient and allow children the time to think. This helps children learn to share and be kind.
• Parents speak very highly of the staff and the positive impact they have on children's learning and development. They know the content of the curriculum and are given details of specific activities they can do to support and extend this. They truly appreciate the 'wonderful staff'.
• Managers place a high emphasis on staff well-being and training. They invest in individual and team training opportunities to strengthen teaching approaches across the nursery. This has a positive impact on children's overall development. For example, staff recently attended training on emotional literacy. This has supported children to be able to confidently express their thoughts and feelings.