Great Child Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle back into nursery well after the summer holidays, with staff who are attentive to their needs. Staff take the time to re-establish relationships with parents and children. This helps children to feel safe and secure, ready to begin learning for the new term. For example, staff read stories that are familiar to children, such as 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. Children recall parts of the story that they have listened to often before. They share with enthusiasm their previous learning linked to numbers and fruit. Staff offer praise to children, which helps to support their emotional needs and confidence. Children are reminded during the day of the expectations of the nursery. Staff are positive role models who talk to children throughout the day. This helps children to remember the routines to follow and how to interact kindly with their friends. As a result, minor altercations are swiftly managed by staff, and children quickly establish how to behave well.

Leaders share how the curriculum supports children's individual needs. Staff take the time to get to know children through ongoing conversations with parents. This helps to gain an understanding of what impacts a child's learning and what interests them to engage them in learning.

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

• Staff support children's language skills well, including those who speak English as an additional language. Staff speak to children throughout play to support understanding and create conversation and knowledge. Children share their ideas and thoughts. For those who are early speakers, staff use gestures and actions, which helps children gain an understanding. Staff sing nursery rhymes, which helps children to learn through repetition and gain confidence in their communication skills.
• Staff provide children with lots of opportunities to build their physical skills through outdoor play. Children happily explore the outdoors through climbing, sliding and balancing on wooden blocks. Staff encourage children to share their achievements and clap when they complete the balance track. Staff encourage children to make choices throughout the day. They provide a range of learning opportunities that help to ignite children's curiosity and engage in learning.
• Staff remind children how to play cooperatively. Staff teach children to wait their turn so that activities are safe. For example, children wait as their friends go down the slide and praise them when they reach the bottom.
• Staff teach children to become independent learners. For example, children are taught how to chop fruit safely and share their experience around the table with their friends. Staff extend the learning, as children wish to taste the fruit. Staff ask questions and enquire about the feel and taste of the fruit, which some children are able to confidently respond to. During mealtimes, all children are encouraged to serve themselves food from the bowl. This helps to build children's hand-eye coordination and support their fine motor skills.
• Staff teach children how to keep their bodies healthy. Children are taught how to follow routines to wash their hands before mealtimes. When blowing their nose, they approach staff for tissues and are encouraged to throw the tissue in the bin independently.
• Staff ensure that children are settled back to nursery with a wide range of learning experiences. For example, children explore creative play through a range of age-appropriate equipment, such as thick easy-grip pencils and large paintbrushes. However, occasionally during activities, quieter children miss out on learning opportunities as their needs have not been thoroughly considered.
• Leaders are ambitious for every child, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to reach their full potential. The curriculum focuses on settling children back to nursery after a long summer break and building on what they already know. Leaders provide staff with ongoing training so that teaching standards are fully understood and delivered to children. However, there are times when teaching is not consistent for short periods of the day, not ensuring that all children are fully engaged and challenged.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan the curriculum to consider more closely the intent and impact of activities for all children, including quieter children
• strengthen the monitoring of practice to swiftly identify and address minor inconsistencies to improve the quality of the curriculum.