Kerswell Kids

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a warm welcome. Children arrive happy and confidently leave their parents and carers at the door. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and develop a secure sense of belonging as they chat about their mornings and eagerly share family photographs with staff and visitors. Staff know the children and their families well. This helps children quickly settle in this friendly setting.

Leaders and staff place a high priority on supporting children's communication and language, and personal, social and emotional skills. Staff are skilful teachers and introduce new vocabulary, such as 'squeak' and 'puff', as children explore balloons. Staff repeat back what children say so that children can hear their spoken words. This helps to develop children's clarity of speech. Staff quickly identify any children who need help in this area and provide them with extra support. This helps to reduce any gaps in children's development.

Staff are good role models and have high expectations for children's behaviour. They teach children to play cooperatively together. For instance, staff gently share reminders and offer clear explanations to help develop children's understanding of turn-taking.

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

• Leaders are clear about their curriculum and have high ambitions for children. Staff know children well. This allows them to offer learning opportunities that sequence children's learning, helping them to build on what they already know and can do. However, at times, in the older children's room, staff do not always position themselves effectively to support children's play. This means that interactions and learning are not of as high quality when children choose to engage in child-led activities.
• Staff support children to develop a love of books. Storytelling is used to extend children's language. Staff talk about what words mean and expand children's vocabulary. Staff are skilled at capturing children's interest in stories. Children listen intently as staff bring characters to life. Staff encourage children to make predictions about what will happen next. This helps prepare children well for the skills they need for school.
• Children learn how to use mathematics purposefully during play. For example, children count how many 'puffs' are needed to blow up the balloon, eagerly telling staff when it is 'big'. Older children are learning about time as they 'cook' their pizzas made of play dough.
• Physical opportunities promote exploration and the development of children's gross motor skills. For instance, children enjoy balancing on the balance beam, climbing steps to the slide and racing up and down with buggies.
• All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or from disadvantaged backgrounds, make good progress from their starting points. Leaders work closely with other professionals to ensure that children with SEND have personalised plans in place to meet their individual needs.
• Leaders use additional funding effectively, ensuring that children attending are offered the full learning experiences on offer. This means children are making good progress in their learning. The nursery ensures that support is offered for the family as well, for example, to gain employment.
• Staff know the children and their families very well. Parent feedback is very positive. They feel supported and say communication is a key strength, with links to direct parents to information regarding vaccinations and oral health. These successful relationships support the links between home and the nursery.
• Leaders are passionate and dedicated to achieving positive outcomes for every child. They have a clear vision for children's growth and the educational experiences they offer. Their commitment to the ongoing professional development of their team is strong. They create training opportunities tailored to the unique needs of both the practitioners and the children, ensuring that the quality of education is good.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff confidence to move around the room to join children's chosen play, helping them enhance the quality of teaching to an even higher level.