Hitchin House Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The warm, welcoming and enthusiastic manager and staff team create a highly ambitious curriculum for all children, who make outstanding progress in their learning and development. Children leave their parents with confidence and demonstrate a clear love for their nursery. Staff are excited to welcome children into their base rooms. Children quickly become immersed in exciting and meaningful activities. Younger babies explore sensory activities. They scoop, pour, pat and bang coloured rice in the trays, using their whole bodies to explore and investigate. These activities encourage babies to become inquisitive learners from an early age.

Sibling relationships are important in this nursery. Children of different ages engage in activities together, creating a home from home feeling. In the garden area, older children spend time with the babies, learning when it is important to take extra care in their movements and play. Children's behaviour is exemplary. They understand staff's expectations. Children are kind to each other and enjoy playing together. Older children explore numbers together, creating their own number sequence problems. They delight as they watch their friends find solutions. They love explaining to staff what they have done, proud of their achievements.

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

• The provider and the management team's dedication to creating an innovative early years provision underpins the nursery's success. The team demonstrate the love they have for the nursery by their enthusiasm throughout the day. Everyone in the nursery is involved in the ongoing development of the provision. The team have a shared vision, making sure every child is seen as an individual and tailoring the teaching to suit all children's learning needs. Additional funding is used successfully to support children's well-being and learning.
• Provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is outstanding. Staff put the necessary adaptations in place quickly to ensure that children enjoy the same curriculum and experiences as their friends. Staff build strong and trusting relationships with parents. They support them throughout their child's journey at the nursery.
• A love of books is embedded across the nursery. Younger babies explore lift-the-flap books and laugh as they lift the barn door to find a horse. Older children have access to a library wall and they competently use a moving ladder to climb and find their books of choice. They enthusiastically get books to share with staff. Children know that books provide information and use those available to extend their own learning even further.
• Children develop an excellent understanding of healthy lifestyles. They are physically active throughout the day, both inside and outdoors. Children use trial and error methods when exploring the climbing wall. They are proud when they manage to move across it. In the garden, children practice their climbing skills even further on the blocks. They use balance beams to start their climb and once they reach the top, staff are there to support them if needed. Staff encourage children to consider risks, asking them: 'Do you think that is a safe thing to do?' This empowers children to make decisions for themselves.
• The workshop allows children time to explore and express themselves independently. In the water tray, children explore coloured water. They use pipettes to transfer water into test tubes, developing their hand-to-eye coordination and fine-motor skills. Children independently choose their own colours to paint with and become immersed in the activity. They proudly share their creations with staff who praise their efforts, developing their self-esteem.
• Parents speak very highly of the nursery, especially the individual bonds their children have with their key person and the staff within their rooms. Parents delight in sharing their experiences and the progress their child has made during their time at the nursery. Communication is highly effective. Parents comment on the classes run additionally for them and the skills they have learned. Parents state that they would not go anywhere else.