Hopscotch Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish and thrive in this exceptional nursery. As they arrive, children are warmly greeted by staff and quickly become immersed in an extensive variety of rich experiences, as they are motivated and excited to learn. Children receive personalised care from staff, considering their unique personalities and home routines. Interactions are of exceptional high quality and are always sensitive and nurturing. As a result, children demonstrate they feel safe and secure by exuding confidence and resilience.

Across the nursery, children delight in their communication with friends and staff. They share their opinions, choices and ideas. The highly skilled staff recognise these moments are of great importance and take the time to respond and engage in meaningful conversations. Consequently, children know that they are truly valued and develop a strong sense of belonging.

Behaviour across the nursery is exemplary. Children show kindness and respect to their friends. They play together, collaborating and taking turns. For example, children work harmoniously together to create their own structures while exploring the 'imagination playground'. Older children share rules together before using large play equipment and talk about how they must have 'kind hands and feet' so their friends do not get hurt. As a result of the rich experiences on offer to children, their attitudes to learning are consistently positive. They are highly motivated and sustain concentration for extended periods of time.

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

• Passionate management and dedicated staff create an ambitious and inspiring curriculum that is securely embedded across all age groups. Children explore a broad set of experiences that develop, support and consolidate their learning. Staff are confident about what they want children to learn and why. They have high expectations of the children and support them to expand and build upon prior knowledge. For instance, as children eagerly plant sunflower seeds, they talk together to recall past knowledge of what seeds need to grow. They seek each other's opinions about whether there is enough soil before pushing in their seeds.
• The manager and staff constantly look at new ways to develop and improve their already high-quality provision. Arrangements for staff supervision are highly effective in supporting staff's performance, professional development and well-being. Highly experienced members of the team effectively coach, support and mentor less experienced staff.
• Staff consistently support children to develop a rich and varied vocabulary, introducing new words throughout the day. For example, staff support children to try and remember another word for 'small' and they recall 'tiny' and 'teeny'. Staff build upon this and introduce the word 'minuscule', explaining it means something that is 'super, super small'. Children enjoy learning new words and comment that they are going to practise it so they remember it next time. Thought-provoking opportunities to explore words and their meanings ensure that children are very confident communicators.
• Children have an abundance of opportunities to develop their physical skills. Staff support babies to manoeuvre their bodies, crawl and pull themselves up. Older children access soft play, where they delight in climbing, negotiating space and sliding. Staff provide excellent emphasis on healthy eating. As such, children understand the effect foods have on their bodies. For example, during mealtimes, children make connections between different food groups as they explain white foods give them lots of energy. They recognise the food as a 'carbohydrate', which they comment will make them 'run really fast'.
• This nursery has exemplary provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff ensure that children have the best level of support that they need. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works closely with all staff to tailor individual support plans for children. Skilled staff identify children who may need additional support quickly and work in partnership with parents and local agencies. As a result, children with SEND make excellent progress.
• Children of all ages become immersed in story times that are brought to life by animated staff. Babies enjoy self-selecting books and wiggle with excitement as staff read to them. Older children are captivated by their favourite stories. Staff build upon children's love for books through well-planned activities. For example, children spend an extensive period of time exploring a live snail that elevates their story experience. This ignites children's curiosity further as they debate whether his tentacles are his ears or eyes. This helps children experience awe and wonder as they explore the world around them.
• Parents are highly complimentary of the exceptionally 'knowledgeable staff'. Parents share that their children make 'phenomenal progress at such a special nursery'. Families who speak English as an additional language proudly share how their home language, heritage and cultures are 'not only respected, but included'.