Kinderzimmer Walton-on-Thames

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very settled and have strong bonds with their key person. Staff are nurturing, and they recognise and respond to the unique care needs of each child. Children demonstrate that they feel happy and safe. When children need extra support, comfort or reassurance, staff quickly respond to their needs. Children behave well. Staff help them to understand the importance of sharing and turn-taking as they play with their friends.

Leaders create a curriculum that offers a broad range of learning experiences, based on children's individual interests. Children develop good attitudes to learning and concentrate well in activities that interest them. For instance, babies explore sand as they use spoons to scoop sand and notice how this falls as they turn the spoons. Staff use this opportunity to model language as children hear new words, such as 'scoop' and 'soft'. This helps to support younger children's language skills. Staff encourage and support children's independence from the outset. Children enjoy being able to take part in and complete some tasks for themselves. For example, toddlers learn how to serve themselves snacks and to drink from open cups. Pre-schoolers take pride in keeping the 'kitchen' area tidy as they clean tables and sweep the floor after they have finished cooking. Staff praise children's independence to help children feel confident in their own abilities.

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

• Leaders have a clear vision of what they want children to achieve in their learning and development. For instance, their vision of supporting children's interest in books and reading has been shared with staff to make storytelling a part of children's daily experiences. Staff have benefited from training in literacy to help them consider how stories can be brought to life. For instance, children excitedly say that the troll from the story has been to visit. They retell parts of the story and consider where he might have gone, following the footprints he has left. Children develop a love of stories and gain good imagination skills, as staff place a strong focus on this area of learning.
• Staff plan activities to ignite children's curiosity. They understand the unique interests of children to meet the differing ages of children who take part. Staff understand what they want children to know or to be able to do next. However, at times, some staff do not tailor activities successfully to what they have identified they want children to learn next. At times, this limits how staff can focus their teaching to build on what children already know and to enrich their learning further.
• The nursery is extremely inclusive, and staff make sure that every child and family is celebrated uniquely. Staff teach children about different family dynamics, cultures and beliefs different to their own from a very early age. For instance, staff teach children about Eid and Pride Week, recognising and valuing these celebrations. Children enjoy bringing in items from home that are special to their families, which helps everyone learn about their friends' lives outside of the nursery. Staff recognise the importance of children learning about themselves and others to prepare them for life in modern Britain extremely well.
• Children behave well. Overall, they listen well and follow staff instructions. Staff focus strongly on supporting children's individual emotional needs. They set out clear expectations for children and provide consistent support for them. Younger children learn how to play cooperatively with their peers, considering their needs. For instance, as they take turns in scooping water in the water tray, toddlers help to find extra pots to share with their friends.
• Staff use a variety of opportunities to support children's communication and language skills. Babies benefit from opportunities to join in with favourite songs and action rhymes. Staff teach children new words to build on their vocabulary. For instance, they explain the meaning of the word 'habitat' to help children sort animals into groups of those that live in the sea and those that live on the land. However, at times, some staff ask too many questions without giving older and most-able children enough time to think through and share their ideas.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop clearer links between the intent and delivery of activities to shape these to the learning needs of each child
• strengthen staff ability to give older children enough time to process their thoughts and respond to questions they pose to enable them to share their own thoughts and ideas.