Home From Home Nursery & Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the setting ready for their day of play and separate with ease from their parents into the care of staff. Children develop strong bonds with their key person and the rest of the staffing team. Children receive the warm care they need from staff. For example, staff console children and give them the time they need to return happily to their play. This enables children to feel safe and secure and to be ready for learning. Children relish being outdoors and have regular opportunities to be out in the local community. They visit the pony to feed it carrots and return to the nursery, excitedly sharing their experiences.

Children learn skills for the future, such as preparing their own snack and serving themselves at mealtimes. There is a clear sequence to this learning that starts from the youngest age groups. This enables children to practise and embed these skills. Children enjoy looking at books. Babies sit in the cosy area, select a story and turn the pages of the board books with care and skill. This strengthens children's enjoyment of and interest in literacy from an early age. There is a clear plan for the curriculum, which leaders base upon what children know, understand, can do and need to learn next. The planning for learning is ambitious for all children, including those learning another language and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This enables children to make the individual progress they are capable of.

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

• There is clear and effective leadership, enabling a good-quality provision. Leaders follow safer recruitment processes, which enable the ongoing suitability of staff. There is a clear induction system, and staff have regular opportunities for further training and to gain professional qualifications. Staff comment about the high levels of support they receive to enable them to be effective practitioners.
• Staff know their key children well and understand different children's learning needs and styles. This enables them to make the most from their interactions with children during activities and children's chosen play. Staff make observations of children during their play and learning opportunities. They use this information to assess their development and plan effectively for what children need to learn next.
• Children learn about kindness and tolerance from a young age through effective support and encouragement from staff. For example, staff explain to children about what will happen if they act in certain ways. They also readily praise children for their good decision making.
• Children develop good communication and language skills. Staff introduce new words to help describe things. For example, when playing with the pretend snow, staff use words such as 'squishy'. However, sometimes, staff ask too many questions or step in too quickly to answer the questions that they ask children. This does not give children the time they need to think and respond and to understand the flow of a conversation from a young age.
• Staff encourage children to develop a good imagination. For example, when exploring different modes of transport, children explain how they come to the nursery. They talk about coming to nursery in an aeroplane, about where they would land it and how many people they can have on board. This enhances children's creativity and speaking skills.
• Staff explain the rules for games effectively, enabling children to fully understand and grasp new concepts. For example, they successfully demonstrate how to attach the paper clips to the cardboard shape. Staff extend this by asking children how many clips they will have if they add one more or take one away. Older children are able to calculate this correctly, challenging their mathematical knowledge.
• Staff plan activities that they base on what children need to learn next and their current interests. For example, staff set out a counting activity for children to build on their number recognition. They use pom-poms on large dominoes and count out how many they need depending on the number on the domino.
• Children practise their cutting skills. They persist at using the scissors to cut the ribbons. This teaches children to persevere at a chosen task to enable them to succeed. Staff talk to children about their own safety and that of others while using the scissors, enhancing their knowledge.
• Leaders initially exchange information with other staff/carers at other early years settings that children also attend. However, they do not always maintain this relationship to exchange information about children's development on an ongoing basis. This does not enhance the sharing of children's learning and what comes next in the sequence for children's development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the working relationships with key persons at other early years settings that children also attend
• build on staff's awareness of the importance of giving children time to respond to questions that staff pose.