Holly Tree Pre-School And Trackers

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy attending this warm and welcoming nursery. They arrive and are greeted by their key person, who welcomes them warmly and helps them to settle. Children are confident and enthusiastic learners, who consistently demonstrate that they feel safe and secure in the care of the nurturing staff team. They are supported by staff who know them well and make good use of their observations and assessments. Staff plan experiences that help children to build upon what they already know and can do. For example, children confidently recall aspects of previous learning as they play, such as remembering how to use scissors correctly when making models. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from the time they start attending.

Staff understand the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had, not only on children's learning and development but also on each other's well-being. Staff sensitively support each other to fulfil their roles. They confidently employ a wide range of intervention programmes in order to close any gaps in children's learning and development. This helps to ensure that children quickly catch up on any learning they may have missed. Children of all ages behave very well and express kindness towards each other.

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

• Leaders and managers are passionate about their roles. They have a clear vision for the nursery and act with honesty and integrity. Together, along with staff, leaders place children at the heart of everything they do at the nursery. Staff are offered a wide range of professional development opportunities, such as supervision, coaching and additional training. This helps staff to continually enhance the quality of their teaching skills.
• Staff carefully plan and provide a wide range of opportunities based on children's interests and their knowledge of what children need to learn next. This successfully ignites curiosity and children's thirst for learning. Children particularly enjoy group story times where they confidently use puppets to recall familiar traditional stories. However, occasionally, quieter and less confident children are not as well engaged as their more confident friends. Therefore, they do not always benefit as much as possible from the learning experience.
• Children's communication skills are a top priority. All staff model an extensive range of vocabulary, meaning that children consistently have opportunities to hear and practise new words. For example, children spin around and remark that they are 'professional twizzers'. They explain that this means they are very good at something, just like the professional dentist who visited to talk about tooth brushing. This also demonstrates how children are encouraged to make links in their learning.
• Children have an abundance of opportunities to explore a wide range of skills outdoors in the well-resourced garden areas. While some children practise their large physical skills on bicycles, other children choose to investigate how water flows or to share a book in the story dens. The provision of a wide range of outdoor opportunities ensures that the needs of children who prefer to learn outdoors are well met.
• Younger children recall a time when 'Holly Bear' was injured and lost her arm. Staff skilfully used this opportunity to teach children about physical disability. Children explain to the inspector that Holly has one arm now and we need to help her to play, 'but we still love her'. This successfully teaches children to value and respect everyone. That said, opportunities for children to extend their awareness of different cultures to gain a greater appreciation of the world around them have not been fully developed.
• Parents speak highly of the support their family receives from staff at the nursery. They describe how staff go 'above and beyond' in support of their family. Staff communicate on a daily basis with parents and share information to help them extend their child's learning at home. This, along with electronic means of communication, is very much appreciated by parents. Parents comment that 'I would not have my child go anywhere else.'

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the organisation of large-group times, so that all children can take part and contribute equally
• strengthen opportunities for children to learn about cultural diversity outside their own community.