Hedgehogs & Badgers Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted at the nursery door by kind and smiling staff who help them settle quickly. They soon find their favourite toys and activities and there is a joyful sound of children chatting and playing with one another and staff. Children form strong attachments with staff who know them and their families well. This helps children feel emotionally secure and develops their self-esteem.

Children learn to respect and understand the needs of others. Staff have high expectations for their behaviour. When children face challenges or feel overwhelmed, staff gently support them to understand their feelings and overcome their difficulties. This helps children learn to regulate their own behaviour while helping them recognise how others are feeling.

Children are motivated and focused learners who enjoy playing in the safe and stimulating environment. They demonstrate good knowledge about the things that interest them, such as pretending to 'plug in' the toy cars or describing the parts of the toy plane. They listen carefully and show good attention when staff provide new information. For example, they are fascinated to learn how turtles lay their eggs in the sand. Children begin to develop the skills they need to become successful learners in the future.

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

• The provider and manager are ambitious leaders who know their children and community well. They support staff by providing good professional development and supervision. This helps staff develop their knowledge and skills to provide consistency in the quality of education for children.
• Staff create a well-designed and sequenced curriculum. They use their knowledge of the children's development to create a wide range of activities. Staff plan new topics every week to help children learn and develop their skills. However, sometimes this means that planned activities are too broad and do not fully reflect the children's individual interests, to extend their learning further.
• Staff help all children to develop their communication and language skills. They understand that some children need more support, such as those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. Staff ensure that they engage in high quality interactions with children all day. For example, they listen carefully to what children are saying, they ask meaningful questions and give children time to reflect and answer. This helps children learn to express themselves effectively, such as asking for help when they need it.
• Staff recognise that children's personal, social and emotional skills has been adversely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. They plan engaging activities to help children learn to share and take turns. For example, children take turns rolling a ball to each other in a circle. Although some find this difficult, staff are quick to acknowledge and praise children when they succeed. This supports children's growing understanding of the needs of others.
• Children enjoy lots of exercise and fresh air to support their physical skills and health. For example, they develop their movement and coordination as they run, chase hoops and play football in the large open space. They develop strength and control as they dig in the sand, ride in toy cars and splash in the water. Children learn good hygiene habits, such as washing their hands before they eat.
• Some staff encourage children to explore their creative ideas. For example, children enjoy making collages with paper shapes, stickers and glitter. However, at times staff overly direct children's creative play. This limits the opportunities children have to make independent choices and to develop their own creative thinking.
• Children find out about the environment as they discover the natural world. For instance, children are interested and engaged as they learn how plants grow. They describe parts of a plant, such as the 'leaf' and the 'root'. They notice changes in the environment, such as when they find a 'sleepy' bee outside.
• Parents describe how their children thrive at nursery. Parent partnerships are strong. For example, parents work closely with staff to support children's emotional and physical well-being. Staff share regular updates with them about their children's learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to support staff to plan activities and experiences that build on children's interests and extend their learning to a higher level
• increase opportunities for children to express their own creative ideas to help them to develop their thinking and to make independent choices.