Grove Park Pre-School And Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and well cared for. For instance, young babies new to the setting receive good support and reassurance from staff when they need comfort throughout the day. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Staff listen to and actively take account of children's views. For example, when staff invite them to participate in group activities, children receive time to finish their self-initiated play before they join. When children share their intention to make a caterpillar out of play dough, staff share ideas on how to make the play dough longer. This positively enhances children's play. Staff ensure that children's individual spoken languages and cultures are celebrated alongside their learning of the English language.

The manager and staff are highly ambitious for all children to develop a love of learning and achieve well, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They place a strong focus on children enjoying books and stories. A recent project, undertaken with the local authority, was used to encourage all families to join the local library. Children are very friendly and behave well as they enjoy learning both indoors and in the large secure garden. For example, children eagerly search for different objects in the garden and others continue their interest in minibeasts, using sticks to draw caterpillars in the sand. Staff support children to engage deeply in their learning for long periods.

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

• The manager and staff team share a clear vision for implementing a curriculum that helps children to achieve, consolidate and move on to the next stage in their learning. Staff are knowledgeable about the needs of their key children. They plan activities based on children's interests and identify what they want children to learn next. However, the manager has not fully embedded how she monitors what children are learning. As a result, any gaps in the curriculum provided are not quickly identified, which impacts on what children learn.
• Staff teach babies and toddlers new words, such as 'splash' and 'bubbles'. They use more complex language to help older children learn about the world around them, for instance, as they compare centipedes and caterpillars. Staff use questions and conversations that encourage older children to respond in sentences of more than one word. Children enjoy songs and stories to enhance their listening skills. For example, older children eagerly share their knowledge of initial sounds in words as they play sorting games. Staff help children to make good progress in their communication and language development.
• Staff weave mathematics throughout the curriculum effectively. They encourage children to explore mathematical concepts at every opportunity. For example, children successfully identify and match shapes, recognise and write numerals and count for a purpose. Older children spontaneously add pegs to number grids and compare which is the bigger number with more pegs. Younger children are supported to use numbers and language such as 'longer' and 'shorter', and they measure their caterpillars and choose the length of the spider's legs.
• Children enjoy a vast array of activities to support their physical development. The youngest children enjoy chasing and popping bubbles in their own, secure garden area. Older children explore different ways to climb and balance on climbing equipment, and ride wheeled toys or throw balls into the basketball net.
• Partnership with parents is effective. They are happy with the provision and are complimentary about how caring and kind the staff team and manager are. They comment that children make good progress while at the nursery and are happy to attend each day. Staff share information about children's day with parents and give ideas for how their learning can be supported at home. However, the manager and team do not invite parents to share their thoughts and ideas on what the nursery does well and how it can improve.
• The manager and her team use evaluation well. She identifies areas of the nursery to improve, for example, changes made to the layout of the toddler room have enabled children to be more focused in their learning. Staff are well supported by the manager. The manager operates an open-door policy. Staff have regular meetings, which help to identify any training needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve how the curriculum is monitored to ensure any gaps are closed quickly to enhance children's learning further
• engage parents in sharing their views to help inform the nursery development plan.