Growing Pains

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a warm and welcoming environment, where children demonstrate they feel extremely happy, safe and secure. Children eagerly come into the nursery and engage in play with their friends. They are motivated to learn and confidently explore the interesting resources on offer. Staff support children in forming exceptionally strong emotional bonds. Staff know their key children incredibly well and this helps children to feel a true sense of belonging and feeling a part of the nursery community. For example, when children arrive, they confidently join their friends on the carpet for group time. They show immense pride as they stand up and share personal information, such as the birth of a new family member.

Staff make the most of opportunities to bring children of all ages together. Older children kindly help their younger friends to butter their toast, while they have breakfast together. Staff are clear about their expectations and explain why certain behaviours are not acceptable. Children behave well. They use good manners and take turns. During carpet time, children remind each other that they will use 'listening ears' and 'kind hands'. Staff support children to recognise their own feelings and how to be respectful. For example, while children are eagerly digging for worms and bugs in the garden, staff remind children to be gentle and kind to the creatures. Children are sociable and make the inspector feel very welcome. For example, they show her how to make 'binoculars' using her hands and proudly show the musical instrument they have made.

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

• Staff benefit from regular supervision and training and feel well supported by the manager. They are given good opportunities to enhance their professional development. For example, recent training in autism and Makaton, has helped staff to feel more confident in recognising when children may need additional support. This helps to raise staff morale and improves outcomes for children. Staff comment that they feel respected and valued.
• The manager and staff create a broad and balanced curriculum. Staff know the children well and can identify their goals for learning. They gather detailed information from parents when children first start. Children make good progress in their learning.
• All staff are highly passionate about providing children with an inclusive environment. Children demonstrate extremely high levels of self assurance, independence and resilience. Because staff have build such strong bonds with children and their families, they know how to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of the children. It is clear to see that children are incredible secure and settled. They enjoy making decisions and helping to contribute to how the curriculum is planned. For example, as a group, children choose which book they would like to learn more about, as part of the ongoing topic.
• Staff expertly engage children in conversation and discussion about healthy lifestyles. Children use a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' for healthy or unhealthy foods. Parents are offered guidance on food choices for the children's lunch boxes. Staff accommodate and monitor children's allergies, cultural preferences, and other dietary needs effectively. They eat alongside children, facilitating conversations and creating the homely atmosphere that underpins the whole nursery.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents comment on how much progress their children have made, particularly with their social skills and language. They think extremely highly of the staff, explaining how happy their children are to attend. Parents praise staff for the regular updates they provide about their children's development and the ideas they share. They value how staff adapt their practice and environment to meet the individual needs of all the children.
• Children are strong communicators. Books and stories play a big part of the curriculum. Children enjoy acting out the story of Jack and the Beanstalk together as a group. They show a great deal of concentration as they use real leaves and paint to create their own beanstalks. They explain that the beanstalk needs 'rain and sun to help it grow'.
• Staff plan interesting activities for children of all ages. Children enjoy making their own dough and sharing their ideas and observations. Staff ask questions to encourage children to develop their critical thinking. However, occasionally, staff do not provide children with enough time to further consider their ideas and extend their learning further.
• Children enjoy spending outside and have many opportunities to develop their physical skills. They experience safe risk and challenge. For instance, they work as a team with staff to lift logs up, during their hunt for bugs in the garden. They carefully scoop and dig during their investigation and observe the things they find. They manage their behaviour well. For example, they understand that they need to take turns while they dig and hold the magnifying pots.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consistently give children more time to think and respond to questions to support their thinking skills further.