Hidden Habitat

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery with a huge amount of enthusiasm. Staff form caring and friendly relationships with them, so they feel extremely emotionally secure and very happy to learn. Staff in the baby room interact with babies sensitively and warmly, offering cuddles and fun. Careful thought is given to matching nursery and home routines. Staff create a calm and nurturing atmosphere throughout the nursery. They gently guide children to cooperate as they play and explore.

The provider has designed a creative curriculum that is embedded exceptionally well throughout the nursery. Children's independence and resilience is a priority. For example, staff skilfully support toddlers to develop the small muscles in their hands using tweezers to collect herbs and flowers. The children concentrate and keep trying, smiling broadly when they succeed. Children are exceptionally confident. Staff give them time to experiment and follow their own ideas, skilfully commenting and making suggestions that extend their learning.

The provider and staff offer high-quality learning experiences indoors and outside that support children's deep engagement and curiosity. In the woodland area, children are enthralled as staff create a magical atmosphere, expertly telling stories under the trees. Children develop a real love of stories and enthusiastically ask for more.

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

• Children benefit enormously from the many rich and exciting opportunities to be physically active. Staff encourage them to use paint on a large scale in the woodland area, for instance, supporting the development and control of their arm muscles. Children are fascinated to mix colours and talk about how paint sparkles in the sunshine. Children relish the chance to run around in the fresh air, climb, balance and develop good physical health.
• Children's communication and language skills are exceptional throughout the nursery. Staff are highly skilled in their interactions with babies, for example. They smile and hold eye contact with babies, modelling new words and putting them into a sentence, which babies then try to copy. Older children love showing visitors the way to the woodland area, stopping to talk about the plants and trees they are familiar with. They eagerly share their knowledge of bees and explain about pollination and which plants attract bees.
• Staff say they enjoy working in the nursery and feel part of a coherent team with strong support from the provider. The programme of professional development is highly effective in enhancing staff practice. For example, staff attended training to further develop their expertise when working with babies. This has had a very positive impact in the nursery. In addition, the provider encourages staff to share their particular strengths, which is highly valued by all of the staff team.
• The provider and staff ensure children follow good hygiene routines and have robust health and safety procedures in place. They are extremely vigilant and supervise children closely at all times. They regularly remind children how to play safely, particularly in the woodland area. Children know how to manage their own safety and confidently repeat the rules at the start of each session. For example, they know there should only be three children on the tree net at any one time.
• Staff get to know children extremely well. They monitor children's learning closely to notice any areas of their development where they may need extra help. Staff consult other professionals promptly to support all children to make the progress of which they are capable. Any additional funding is used very effectively, for example to provide activities for children to enjoy at home with their parents.
• Parents speak very highly of the nursery and the kind and attentive staff. They particularly value the opportunities for outdoor play and visits from people in the local community, such as a beekeeper, that enrich children's experiences. Parents feel fully involved in their children's time at the nursery and appreciate the detailed feedback from staff. They say children love the nutritious freshly prepared meals that support their good health.