Home Farm Children's Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are full of enthusiasm when they arrive at the nursery. They are pleased to see their key person and confidently separate from parents and/or carers. Children are familiar with the daily routine. For example, on arrival, older children hang up their coats and find their name cards to self-register. This enhances their independence and literacy skills, which helps to prepare them well for starting school.

Children show high levels of confidence. This can be seen when they independently choose what they want to play with from the wide range of resources available. Furthermore, they demonstrate their good social skills as they talk to visitors about their favourite things to do at nursery. Babies demonstrate that they are happy and feel secure. For instance, they move with ease around the room, checking in with staff for reassurance if needed.

Children behave well, share resources and wait patiently for their turn. They respond positively to staff reminders of the rules and boundaries, such as using kind hands. Furthermore, they are beginning to learn how their behaviour affects others. This helps children to learn to manage their feelings and emotions.

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

• Since the last inspection, the new manager has reviewed the curriculum to ensure it is sequenced and builds on what children already know and can do. The environment has been changed to ensure that children are able to freely access a range of resources and activities that meet their individual needs. However, the outdoor curriculum is not yet fully developed, to ensure that children, particularly those who prefer to learn outdoors, consistently have rich learning experiences.
• Leaders and managers support staff well. For example, they have regular supervision meetings, where they provide feedback about staff performance and identify training. This helps to ensure that teaching is of a high quality.
• Staff have a good knowledge of child development and plan activities to meet children's individual needs. For example, staff in the toddler room have reviewed the curriculum to ensure activities are challenging for both the youngest and oldest children. For example, children successfully develop their early literacy skills. The youngest develop their hand muscles as they spread butter on bread, and older children learn the names of letters.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. They comment that they are happy with the care their children receive at the nursery. Additionally, they enjoy daily feedback from staff and access the online learning journal to keep them up to date with their child's progress. However, staff do not routinely share ideas with parents to enable them to build on children's learning at home.
• Staff have a good awareness of any ongoing potential gaps in learning that are possibly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as communication and language. Across the nursery, staff use effective ways, such as singing and sharing stories, to enhance children's development in this area of learning.
• Since the last inspection, staff have attended training, which has had a positive impact on children's learning. For example, staff plan exciting activities that engage children for extended periods, such as when toddlers explore and investigate slime. Additionally, they support children to understand how to keep healthy. For example, across the nursery, children learn about good oral health and practise brushing their teeth.
• Children are respectful of each other and adults. They listen carefully to staff and respond positively to requests. For example, they come in from the garden when asked and help to tidy away toys before lunch.
• Staff have strong bonds with children. They use effective strategies to help ensure that children feel safe and secure. For example, when children start at the setting, flexible induction processes support them to settle, which promotes their emotional well-being.
• Children learn about the wider world. Staff help them to understand festivals, such as Chinese New Year, and to use their home language in the setting. This supports children to celebrate their heritage.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• further develop the outdoor learning curriculum, to enable children to have equally high-quality experiences outdoors as those of the indoor environment
• develop systems to share ideas with parents to further extend children's learning at home.