Home By The Sea

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff demonstrate kindness and gentleness in their interactions with the children. Children show delight as they rush through the door in the morning, eager to start their day. They show that they feel safe and secure, as they reach out to staff who know them so well. Staff raise children's self-esteem as they encourage them to share their thoughts. Children feel valued in their contributions. Staff ensure that all children have access to an exciting curriculum, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, all children make strong progress in their learning from their individual starting points.

Children behave very well, and staff set high expectations for behaviour. Staff are warm and respectful. They ask permission from children before helping with personal care. This approach supports children to value themselves and know that their feelings matter. The curriculum meets the needs of children's individual age and stage of development. For example, babies and young children take part in activities that build on vocabulary and language. Older children take part in a bug hunt and discuss the attributes of insects.

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

• The leadership team is committed to providing a home-from-home environment for children. Parents mention that individualised care and attention that they receive helps them to feel included in the setting and their children's educational journey. They appreciate the help and support that the staff provide. Parents are regularly invited into the setting and staff provide them with bespoke learning packs. This helps to support learning at home, which gives continuity to children's care.
• Staff support children to be very independent. They encourage babies to serve and feed themselves and to drink from an open cup. Older children pour their drinks and freely choose the activities that they would like to play with. They take responsibility for their own belongings and are beginning to be proficient in their own self-care, such as toileting. Children demonstrate a strong attitude to their learning. They behave well and care for the environment around them.
• The leadership team has created a broad curriculum that covers all areas of learning. Overall, teaching is good, and staff have a good understanding of how children develop and learn. However, some of the newer staff have not yet received the training that supports them to imbed effective teaching skills in their practice. As a result, there are times when some children do not benefit as fully as possible during activities, and some learning is incidental rather than purposeful.
• Staff work hard to manage changes for children in the nursery. All children know the routines of the day and are calm and happy. Staff work extremely closely, both with each other and with parents, to prepare children well for their move between rooms as they get older. For example, younger children regularly visit their new room. They gradually get to know the staff and children and become familiar with the environment. The key-person system works well, helping to ensure that children are emotionally ready and supported to move on to the next stage in their learning.
• Children have extensive opportunities to have experiences that they may not previously have had. Staff make use of the large garden to promote children's physical development and curiosity. Children grow sunflowers and strawberries. They develop an interest in the natural world. Diversity is celebrated throughout the nursery for both children and staff. Children's own cultures are celebrated, and they learn about the different backgrounds of their friends. Staff challenge stereotypical behaviours to ensure that children feel comfortable in the choices that they make.
• Staff support children's language skills effectively. They use descriptive language, simple sentences and provide a narrative as children play. Babies giggle and smile as staff sing to them about the bubbles floating towards them. They learn new words, such as 'pop' and 'bubble'. Older children are encouraged to contribute as staff share books with them. During role play, staff explain what a stethoscope is and children are taught new vocabulary, such as thermometer. Books are used well throughout the nursery. Children access them to 'read' familiar stories or access facts about the insects that they are searching for in the garden.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance methods of training staff to identify areas for development that help to raise the quality of their practice to a consistently high level across all areas of the nursery.