Kido Golders Green

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive at this nursery and learn what they need to be successful in their future. Staff have an excellent understanding of what each child knows and needs to learn next. They use this information to plan activities carefully to help children achieve the next steps in their learning. This means that children make exceptional progress.

Staff work hard to build strong relationships with every child. They understand their interests, likes and dislikes well and use this information successfully to meet the needs of each child. For example, staff creatively design games using children's favourite characters to support their individual learning. This helps to support children in achieving their targets and progressing well in their learning. Children form strong attachments to staff and are keen to show them their achievements and approach them for comfort.

Children speak a rich variety of languages. Staff support children extremely well by communicating using key words from their home language, where appropriate.

Children's behaviour is exceptional. They show extremely good concentration, persevering even when things are challenging. For example, when children use tweezers to strengthen the small muscles in their hands. Initially this was challenging for them, but they kept trying and eventually managed to use the tweezers to pick up the small object.

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

• Staff have high expectations for every child. Leaders work tirelessly to ensure the best possible outcomes for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They work closely with external professionals, especially the local authority. Staff are extremely creative in finding ways to meet children's needs. For example, staff support children to self-regulate their emotions. They teach them deep breathing techniques to use if they feel they need to feel calmer.
• Leaders are clear in what they want children to achieve through the communication and language curriculum. Staff use a wide range of vocabulary and this helps children learn many new words, which they use in their own communication. Staff teach younger children to make connections between actions and associated words. For example, while exploring musical instruments, staff encourage children to use words, such as 'bang' and 'shake'.
• Children develop their physical skills extremely well. They ride bicycles, jump between crates and balance on rope ladders. Staff plan many effective opportunities for children to strengthen the small muscles in their hands. Children use scissors well and draw shapes in the sand. They squash, pinch and pull play dough and squeeze tongs together to take their food at lunchtime. This helps to ensure children are well prepared for writing.
• Staff talk to children about their emotions throughout the day. They name emotions that the child is feeling. For example, they say 'wow, you feel so excited that the tomato has grown.' This supports children in identifying how they and their peers are feeling. Staff constantly model expected behaviour and praise children when they see this. Children learn to take turns and share very well when they are playing with peers.
• Children benefit from the creative ways in which leaders take advantage of learning opportunities in the local community. For example, they learn about how to look after their teeth from a local dentist. Leaders plan many opportunities for children to learn about different communities around the world. They send Thanksgiving cards to children in the USA and Chinese New Year cards to children in Hong Kong. They receive cards back and then celebrate in the same way as the children in these countries. This helps children to understand celebrations in other countries. Toddlers and pre-schoolers join in enthusiastically with their weekly Spanish and Mandarin lessons. Staff then reinforce what they have learned during the week, for example by greeting children in Spanish in the mornings.
• Staff develop highly effective partnerships with parents. They ensure they are easily accessible to parents, sharing information verbally each day. Leaders organise workshops for parents around subjects, such as online safety and nutrition. They plan opportunities for parents to be involved in their child's learning by inviting them to participate in activity days, such as a recent 'Explorer' day. Parents speak highly of the provision when the nursery was closed for most children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The videos, activity ideas and video calls with staff meant that children were able to continue to make progress with their learning during this period.
• Leaders work extremely hard to support staff in developing their teaching skills. They have a strong understanding of each member of staff's strengths and next steps in their professional development. They carefully plan opportunities to support staff in achieving these next steps. Staff speak very highly of the professional development opportunities offered to them. This means that teaching is of a high standard.