Into The Woods Outdoor Nursery - Kenwood House

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff put children at the heart of everything that they do. They have a deep respect for children and encourage them to be kind to others. Children thrive in this welcoming and friendly nursery. They have the freedom to explore their environments in safety and can make choices about what they want to do. Staff keep any risks to children minimised, enabling them to stay safe from harm. Children have access to huge amounts of space. They behave well as they explore outdoors. Children listen well to staff's instructions. For example, they know how far they can venture alone, or that they need to 'stand like a tree' when a dog approaches them. Children are very aware of the rules which are made for their safety.

Children make good progress across the seven areas of learning. They are involved in fun activities that inspire their engagement and support their understanding in all the different areas. For example, children learn about the different kinds of helmets and their uses. They make their own using a range of open-ended creative materials, such as twigs and laces. At times, children are encouraged to work together with their peers to build on their teamwork skills. This helps them to have a can-do attitude in their play.

Staff are well qualified and skilfully use their knowledge of child development and forest school to plan for each child's learning. They build on what the children already know. Children show great enthusiasm and positive attitudes towards their learning. They are supervised well by staff and confidently use screws, nails and hammers. Children talk about how they used a saw to cut the branch last time. The management team demonstrates immense passion, knowledge and ambition and is keen for children to experience hands-on learning in the natural environment.

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

• Children have lots of opportunities to practise developing their physical skills and play outdoors. They enjoy looking for bugs in their natural habitats and listen and watch the birds in the open. Children enjoy walking and balancing on tightropes in the woods and delight swinging in hammocks to relax. They have many opportunities to become independent. For example, children pour the water for their friends from a bottle to help them wash their hands. Others collect the used paper towels in plastic bags as they get ready for lunchtime.
• Children have many opportunities to listen to stories and rhymes. They independently choose books and take them to staff, who read to them. Children who arrive at the nursery with limited skills in their speech and language flourish into becoming strong communicators. They frequently engage in conversations with staff, including at mealtimes, which are considered social occasions.
• Children form close bonds with caring key staff. They are confident to leave their parents and carers as they arrive. Staff also help children to settle, and reassure them as necessary with cuddles and soothing words during the day. They use emotion cards to help children to find the words to express how they are feeling. This helps to support children's emotional well-being.
• Staff have high expectations for all children and plan a stimulating curriculum that broadens children's experiences. They know individual children well and assess their development closely. Staff take their lead from children's play. They spend a good amount of time joining in and guiding children's learning. Staff are passionate about developing children's understanding of the natural world.
• Parents are very complimentary about the nursery. They say that their children's confidence and speaking skills have increased since coming to the setting. Staff invite parents to meetings to discuss their children's progress termly and they also have daily discussions. However, parents are not always informed about their child's next steps in learning or given strategies that they can use at home to help their children practise their skills, especially when children aged between two and three years have their progress check.
• The management team has not fully developed the links with other professionals involved in children's lives to share what they know about children's learning and development. For example, a lot of children go to other settings and there is no contact with the other nurseries if the children have no additional needs.
• Managers ensure that staff have the training they need and check that they are supported emotionally. This means that staff feel valued and positive about their work. However, further targeted support would help all staff to gain an even better understanding of how to support children and to understand the procedures of the setting

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on the existing systems to communicate with parents about the progress check for their children aged between two and three years and their next steps in learning, so that they can help their children at home
• strengthen partnerships with other professionals involved in children's lives, to support continuity in teaching and care
• make greater use of existing staff monitoring procedures to more precisely identify areas to develop further, and raise the quality of teaching to a higher level.