Infinity Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children flourish in this unique nursery. Children enter a home-from-home environment where they feel respected and valued by staff. All staff are aware of children who need reassurance and ensure that they are supported effectively on arrival and throughout the day. Children are happy and confident and make wonderful friendships. They benefit from exciting and innovative activities that motivate them to want to learn. Leaders are passionate about providing children with the best start to their early years. This ethos is shared by a committed staff team that goes above and beyond to create relationships with their key children. Consequently, all children make exceptional progress from their starting points.

Managers plan a curriculum that encompasses all aspects of children's learning. Staff provide an exceptionally enabling environment in this pack-away setting that is outstandingly well thought out. High-quality interactions mean children are continuously exposed to a language-rich environment. Children are curious about the world around them. They excitedly explore the outdoor garden, searching for dinosaur footprints among the soil, bark and plants. Children read familiar stories and explore information inside and outside, fostering their love of reading.

Children are exceptionally well behaved. Staff set clear boundaries in a calm and gentle manner. Children are incredibly kind and caring and show superb skills to share and cooperate. They are extremely polite and considerate. Children know exactly what is expected of them and show high levels of respect for staff and each other. For example, one child teaches another how to wipe their nose while looking in a mirror and follow hygiene rules to wash their hands afterwards. Staff adeptly support children to manage their emotions. They have implemented areas, such as cosy areas, where children can go for a calm time should they need to.

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

• The staff place the children's love of physical activity, songs and books at the centre of much of their learning. They support children in learning a wide range of songs linked to routines, welcoming peers and physical movement. Staff and children sing with confidence and support each other, with the more reserved children given time to feel more comfortable. Staff introduce children to a breadth of fiction and non-fiction books, often linked to specific topics at the time. This systematically deepens children's language skills and enriches their knowledge of the world.
• The well-qualified and experienced leaders lead a highly motivated staff team. They undertake many focused training opportunities to develop a rich and well-balanced subject knowledge. Dedicated leaders and skilled staff work together to facilitate the development of the setting, having equal input with ideas and creativity. This makes an exceptional impact on the well-being of staff and, consequently, the quality of teaching and interactions between staff and children. Staff speak very positively about how they are supported in their roles.
• Staff strongly support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to help prepare them for the next stages in their learning. They work very closely with other professionals, such as speech therapists, medical support and inclusion services, to plan for and promote children's progress. They make very good use of any additional funding to meet the children's learning and emotional needs. For example, the setting purchases unique technology resources that enable calm reflection to music and stories. This supports children's emotional well-being.
• Staff skilfully identify what they need to teach children at each age and how this contributes to their ongoing development. Younger children are supported to put their belongings away and quickly learn routines and transitions with increasing independence. As they get older, children have mastered routines and take ownership of their roles within them. For instance, a young child takes a chair to the carpet to be 'teacher' and leads a singing activity with her peers. She selects a child to choose a 'song spoon' and the group sings the associated song. This shows that they can build on what they know and can do.
• Staff take every opportunity to develop children's mathematical understanding. For example, children are taught to 'touch count' as part of singing activities. They count during a yoga dance and when setting tables for snack. Children learn number recognition during a hunt for dinosaur footprints marked with numerals. Staff encourage the use of emerging subtraction skills. For instance, children check how many people are in the role-play area by counting them and realise they have more than the rules allow. With support, they work out how many children need to play elsewhere for now. This helps to develop children's mathematical language and broadens their vocabulary.
• The nursery has fantastic partnerships with parents. Parents and families are highly involved in their child's learning. Staff engage parents extremely effectively from the beginning. Parents share their child's routines, interests and what they know and can do. Staff then use this information to plan for children's future learning. Staff give parents ideas of how they can extend children's learning at home, and they provide support for milestones such as toilet training. There is a lovely sense of 'family' at this nursery. This helps to create a collaborative partnership between parents and staff which is highly focused on children's care needs and development.