Hermitage Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a warm and welcoming environment, where children are happy and settled. Children demonstrate they are motivated and eager to learn. The staff know children well and provide stimulating experiences that build on children's interests and developmental stages. For example, staff notice babies enjoy exploring loose parts and moving resources from one place to another. Staff respond to this by placing carefully chosen items throughout the play areas for babies to freely explore and investigate. This means babies are stimulated and show high levels of engagement.

Children have immense fun playing with their friends and engage in a wide range of activities and games that support their learning and development. When playing outside they are keen to initiate their own games, such as hide and seek, and invite others to come and join in. Children learn to share and take turns with the equipment. They delight in playing in the mud kitchen, using the resources to pour, scoop and mix materials. Staff respond to children's interests and encourage their observation skills. For example, staff point to the sky and attract children's attention by saying, 'look up, what can you see?' Children jump up and down in excitement when they see a plane and discuss the patterns in the sky. Staff skilfully nurture children's interest in the world around them.

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

• Children make good progress in developing their physical skills as staff provide a rich variety of experiences. They develop strength in their hands and fingers during 'dough disco' sessions. Children carefully repeat the movements as staff model how to pat, stretch, squeeze and pinch the play dough. This helps children to develop the small-muscle skills they will need as they progress to using pencils to write.
• The experienced management team are committed to driving improvements in the nursery. All staff benefit from regular training opportunities and supervision to enhance their knowledge and skills. Staff plan exciting and purposeful activities that support children's progress in all areas of the curriculum. However, at times, staff do not consider how they will introduce and organise group activities. This means that intended learning outcomes are not always fully achieved.
• Staff support children well at mealtimes to develop their social skills and good manners. Children confidently use cutlery and develop their coordination as they pour drinks and spoon food onto their plates. Children engage in lively conversation with each other, sharing their news and discussing which foods they enjoy. After eating, children brush their teeth, which helps to support their understanding of good oral hygiene routines.
• Staff are good role models and gently guide children to show respect and kindness towards one another. Children recognise when a friend may need some help and willingly offer assistance. For example, they support each other to climb and balance outside and put on painting aprons. Staff interact positively with children and join in their games with enthusiasm. However, they do not always recognise when children need support to make appropriate choices during their play.
• Staff work hard to ensure all children reach their potential and achieve good outcomes. Staff regularly assess children's progress and act swiftly if they observe that a child requires additional support. The nursery works closely with parents and other professionals to ensure that targeted support plans are in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Additional funding is utilised effectively to increase staffing levels and provide appropriate learning resources to meet children's individual needs.
• Children are enthusiastic about books and reading. Babies and toddlers enjoy handling books and snuggling up to staff to look at the pages together. Older children show their love of stories by listening carefully at group story times and discussing the characters and events. They use small-world figures to re-enact their favourite stories, such as 'The Gruffalo', using different voices for the characters and repeating phrases they have learned.
• Parents comment that they are kept well informed about care routines and how their child is progressing. They feel valued and are encouraged to share their views about the setting. Parents appreciate the support staff give them and say that staff's enthusiasm for their work 'shines through'.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to have consistently high expectations, when helping children to manage their own behaviour
• support staff to consider the organisation of group activities in pre-school to enable all children to gain the most from the learning experiences.