Katey's Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The leadership team show passion for their holistic approach to their curriculum. The layout of the nursery has been given careful consideration so that children can freely access all the resources and areas of learning. They have a clear vision as to the experiences they want to provide for children of different ages and the skills they want them to learn.

Staff work hard to ensure they plan around children's interests and meet regularly to discuss how they can best help children with their next steps in learning. Children are happy and staff help them to feel emotionally secure. They regularly talk to them about how they are feeling each day and provide them with strategies to manage their feelings and find solutions to problems when they are feeling sad. Children behave well. They sit for circle times and follow the nursery's golden rules. Children enjoy being the helper of the day, where they are given the responsibilities of carrying out small tasks to help their teachers and their friends.

The nursery promotes a love for reading. Their carefully planned programme ensures children enjoy a range of books and learn familiar rhymes. Children enjoy borrowing story sacks and books to take home and share with their families. Staff explicitly teach older children initial sounds in words and develop their skills in listening as they practise orally segmenting and blending small words. This supports them in their next stages in learning to read independently.

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

• Staff support children to become confident and independent with their self-care. For example, Babies are supported in washing their hands, older children chop and peel fruits for snack time, they butter crackers and use tongs and spoons to serve themselves food at lunchtime. Staff encourage and support children of all different ages to independently dress themselves for messy and outdoor play.
• Children are given many opportunities to be expressive. The nursery runs dance classes in their piazza area. Babies enjoy clapping and waving instruments to the familiar rhymes of 'Five Little Speckled Frogs and Old McDonald's Farm'. Older children enjoy colour mixing and creating lines and circles as they paint in time to music.
• Children develop their large- muscle- skills and enjoy being physically active at nursery. Babies use the specialist furniture to practise their walking. Staff support them well as they begin to negotiate space. Children enjoy using stepping stones, climbing up ropes and riding on bikes. In addition, children are given opportunities for daily walks to local parks and gardens.
• Staff clearly set out their expectations for children's behaviour, which children respond well to. They celebrate children's work, offering high praise and rewards. This helps children to develop a sense of pride in their achievements. Staff promote positive behaviour management strategies. They take time to talk to children, helping them by offering solutions and supporting them well in managing their feelings and behaviour.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the nursery. They feel they are fully involved in their children's learning, through the daily communication and regular progress checks they receive. They know what their children are learning and how to further support them at home. They are very happy with the support their children get as they transition through the different rooms. They feel their children are prepared for their next stages in learning, including starting school.
• Staff are supported well, through regular mentoring sessions by more experienced members of the team. However, further support is still needed for some staff, when delivering adult- led sessions to children. In particular, ensuring sessions are age- appropriately timed, adapted in response to children's needs, and that their questioning allows children time to share their thinking. This would ensure children fully achieve intended learning outcomes from the planned sessions.
• The strength and passion of the leadership team for continuous improvement is clear in the vast range of training opportunities they provide for staff. They take pride in knowing their staff well and ensuring that they access the training that is appropriate for their needs, including opportunities to gain Early Years recognised qualifications. They continuously reflect and review their practice through team days to further strengthen their offering.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and improve the organisation of adult led group times, so all children remain engaged in their learning and that questioning allows for children to share their thinking.