Kids Come First

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive excited and eager to explore the well-planned learning environment. They build close attachments and relationships with staff, who are warm, welcoming and friendly. Staff act as positive role models to children with their kind and nurturing approach. Children play well with their friends and learn how to cooperate, share and take turns over time. Children delight in the praise and encouragement that they receive from staff when trying new ideas and skills in their play. Children are motivated learners and demonstrate high levels of confidence and self-esteem.

Children settle in at the nursery well. Staff take the time to get to know each child and their families from their starting points. They gather key information from parents about their child. Staff use this to plan familiar care routines and activities according to their interests. Staff working with babies and toddlers create a photo book of all the special people in a child's life. They use these to help children settle in and provide reassurance when they become upset, especially those who are separating from their families for the first time.

Children have many opportunities to develop their understanding of the world beyond their own experiences. For example, staff take babies on walks in the local community and talk about the natural world around them. Children go on visits to the farm where they learn about what they need to survive. They go on bus journeys to visit and learn about the war memorial.

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

• The manager and staff have worked hard to address previous weaknesses in their practice. The manager has clear aims for what they want children to learn. Staff have high expectations for children and plan activities and learning experiences that target their individual needs. Staff effectively implement the curriculum plans in practice. As a result, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good levels of progress.
• Children move freely between activities and staff are on hand to support and extend their learning. However, on occasions, staff working with younger children do not always help them to continue their learning throughout all times of the day, particularly when they come inside from outdoor play and before mealtimes. This occasionally disrupts the learning of other children, who are completing activities and engaged in play.
• Children develop good literacy skills and a love for reading. Older children excitedly role play different scenes from familiar stories as they go on a bear hunt. Staff use good levels of intonation that help to create excitement and anticipation. Children mirror this as they excitedly answer questions about what comes next in the story. Staff working with babies and younger children create a warm and cosy space, where they can sit and listen to stories.
• Staff skilfully support children's language development, overall. For example, staff working with babies encourage them to babble and make sounds to develop their emerging communication skills. Staff provide a narrative during children's play and encourage them to talk about what they are doing. However, younger children cannot always hear what staff are saying, due to the increasingly loud noise levels in the two- to three-year-old room.
• The manager and staff give high priority to children's health. Staff provide children with daily opportunities to exercise and develop their physical skills during indoor and outdoor play. Children enjoy a range of well-balanced, healthy and nutritious meals. Staff have recently introduced new routines at mealtimes, which help promote children's independence and hygiene. Children become increasingly independent in preparation for their move between rooms within the nursery and eventual move to school.
• The manager and staff have good relationships with parents and external professionals involved in a child's care. They share information between them effectively to promote a consistent approach and ensure children's individual care and learning needs are met.
• The manager holds regular team meetings and supervisions with staff to reflect on their practice and identify areas for improvement. Staff contribute positively to the development of the nursery. They complete their own research online and eagerly share their ideas with the manager, who is receptive to change. Staff report that they feel valued and well supported in their roles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure staff working with younger children consistently maintain the good implementation of the curriculum throughout the day, especially when they come inside from outdoor play and before mealtimes
• ensure the noise levels in the two- to three-year-old room are consistently managed, so that children can hear more clearly and make the best possible progress in their language development.