Holcombe Brook School Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are extremely happy, highly confident and show that they thoroughly enjoy their time at nursery. Although located within the school grounds and a cherished part of the school, this welcoming nursery has a distinctly homely feel. This helps young children to feel safe and secure. Staff pride themselves on treating children as their own. Relationships are warm, supportive and respectful. For example, children follow instructions as expectations are fully understood. When staff raise their hands and say 'high five', children stop and listen attentively to find out what exciting activity will happen next.

Staff and children interact with kindness and sensitivity but most of all they laugh and have fun together. Children giggle with delight as staff speak to them with humour, change their tone of voice and often share a funny story. Children play well together. Older children offer a supportive hand to help newer and younger children to become familiar with routines. They guide them when they are trying an activity for the first time and show them where to put the toys away.

On arrival, children eagerly bound in, hang coats on their dedicated peg and are keen to play and learn. New children bring personal belongings from home and feel valued as they are encouraged to share their special items. They show them to other children who acknowledge and celebrate what makes other's unique. Staff have very high expectations for children's behaviour and, as a result, children use 'kind words, kind hands, kind feet'.

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

• Staff help children to develop their literacy skills. There are opportunities for mark making in all areas. Older children develop pencil control and fine-motor skills as they draw and paint at the easel. They expertly form numbers and shapes when illustrating the story 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. Traditional tales are given high priority as staff skilfully bring them to life. Younger children learn new rhymes and songs. For example, a story about a baby owl is exemplified by the use of owl puppets. A rhyme that mentions citrus fruit is enhanced by incorporating oranges and lemons in the water tray. These additional considerations help to spark children's interest and curiosity.
• The provider is aware of current local authority data and places a strong emphasis on teaching children about physical health. Staff utilise the inspiring outdoor learning areas, including the forest dwelling, to teach children about nature and to help them to develop their physical skills. Children learn about the effects that calcium in milk and yoghurt has on helping to strengthen their bones. They talk about this during snack time.
• In the main, staff focus teaching to help to ensure that all children, including those who need a little more help, make good progress. Staff introduce some new information to children during a listening activity. Staff teach children what a monkey drum and a rainmaker are and how they sound. This encourages children who are able to, to make connections to their prior knowledge of instruments and the weather. However, sometimes, staff do not ensure that activities provided build on what individual children know and can do, to help children to develop the knowledge that they need to learn next.
• Staff are well supported. They receive coaching and mentoring to prepare them for future senior roles. Leaders want to continually improve. They are fully supported by, and share the same ethos as the school. Leaders reflect on aspects of the provision and seek the views of staff to help to make ongoing changes. An example of this was the introduction of the sheltered area. This was developed as a direct response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, to help parents at drop off and collection times. Staff implemented a nursery library for children to take books home, as access to the school library had to stop. However, leaders do not actively seek the views of parents to enhance the overall self-evaluation process.
• Staff recognise that children arrive at the setting with different skills and are keen to give children new life experiences. For example, staff take children on a bus ride if they have not travelled by bus before. They regularly link up with the elderly residents in the local care home, visit the supermarket and Ramsbottom Library to give children knowledge of the wider world.
• Parents are extremely complimentary about the nursery. They tell the inspector that staff know the children so well and help to prepare them for school. However, the methods used to engage parents in their children's learning are not always successful. Leaders recognise this and are looking at ways to develop this area to promote more consistency in supporting all children's learning.
• Children behave impeccably and use excellent social skills. All children follow rules and routines, such as lining up to walk to the school hall for lunch. They use good manners when choosing their healthy school meal and interact positively with others during the social lunchtime.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to improve their understanding of how to deliver a more precisely sequenced curriculum, and build further on what individual children know and can do
• strengthen partnership working with parents so that they are fully involved in the evaluation of the setting and their children's learning.