Hawksfield Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff offer an ambitious curriculum focused on building on children's previous skills and supporting them to gain new knowledge. Staff enthuse and inspire children through regular outings where they experience the world around them. For example, they teach children the life cycle of frogs using trips to local gardens with ponds and build on this learning in the nursery. Staff listen to children and respond to their preferences. For instance, they ask children what foods they would like next week and include this in the menu. Children build strong bonds with staff and show they feel safe and secure. Babies seek out adults for cuddles before continuing with their play. They settle quickly when they enter the nursery. Children are happy and highly motivated learners. They thrive in the positive atmosphere that promotes their love of learning and values their needs.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour in the nursery. They provide clear rules and use visual cues as reminders. Staff prompt older babies to use 'kind hands' and explain how, when they do not use them, they could make 'our friends sad'. Children play well together and learn how to resolve issues positively. For example, children get a timer so that they can take turns with toys and make it fair.

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

• Staff quickly identify when children need extra support and seek appropriate advice and guidance. They work closely with parents, other settings children attend, and outside agencies to ensure a consistent approach to children's learning and development. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff regularly observe children and know what they need to learn next. Overall, staff provide high-quality learning experiences that support children's progress. They prompt children to recall knowledge and provide opportunities to deepen their understanding. For instance, they compare different festivals from around the world when celebrating local festivals such as St Piran's Day. However, on occasions, adult interactions in group situations are focused on the more confident children and, sometimes, opportunities to progress other children are missed.
• Staff promote children's health. For example, children benefit from nutritious snacks and meals provided by a qualified cook. They learn about foods that make us healthy and find out how foods are prepared. Overall, mealtimes provide valuable experiences for children. However, the transitions are not always as well organised as they could be and children are not continually engaged in purposeful activities.
• Children display good social and communication skills. Staff have worked hard to improve their interactions with children. They now sit with children on their level and ask questions that encourage children to think and develop their speech. Staff effectively use routine times such as nappy changing with babies to sign songs and model speech. They introduce new words to toddlers and pre-school children such a 'potions' and 'extinction' to support children's widening vocabulary.
• Leaders place high emphasis on staff feeling valued and supporting their well-being. For example, they celebrate 'Staff of the Month', provide thank you gifts and offer regular team-building outings. Ongoing training and mentoring helps staff to feel listened to, develops their skills and raises outcomes for children.
• Staff ensure that children have opportunities to practise their physical skills, both indoors and outdoors. For example, babies have lots of opportunities to build their core strength and leg muscles as they pull themselves to stand up. Toddlers and older children enjoy their time outdoors in the fresh air where they start to manage risks when climbing into the tree house and making dens.
• Staff support children to develop their independence. For instance, younger babies learn to wash and dry their own hands using bowls of soapy water and towels. Pre-school children are well-prepared for the transition to school. They familiarise themselves with using book bags and role play dressing in school uniforms.
• Staff build effective partnerships with parents. They communicate daily updates about children's care and progress. Parents comment that staff make it clear how they can build on children's learning at home. They talk about the positive impact the staff and nursery experiences have on their child's development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide learning opportunities for all children during group activities and adapt where needed, to fully meet the learning and development needs of individual children
• improve the organisation of transitions at lunchtimes to ensure children are consistently engaged in positive and purposeful learning.