Kindred Royston Church House Nursery and Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and their families receive a warm welcome as they arrive at nursery. Staff take time to speak to parents about important information that helps them to care for the children throughout the day. These very good relationships help children to feel settled and secure at nursery. Children quickly settle into their day, playing with staff and exploring the toys and resources. Children of all ages have great fun playing with sand. They fill buckets, scooping up sand on small spades and in other containers. Children quickly learn from staff how to turn the bucket over as fast as possible and to pat it before lifting to reveal the sandcastle.

Children behave well in the nursery. Staff model polite and kind behaviour, encouraging children to share, take turns and to say 'please' and 'thank you'. This helps children to develop positive relationships with other children and builds their ability to regulate their own behaviour. Children benefit from a wide range of experiences where they learn about the world around them. Staff invite members of the local community to the nursery to talk to the children about their work. This includes time with a firefighter and with the animals from the mobile farm. Staff organise special events for children, such as 'cardboard box day' and the 'flower festival'. These experiences help to broaden children's knowledge and inspire their creativity.

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

• The manager confidently explains the broad curriculum for children. She describes the aspirations the staff team has for each child to reach their full potential and to make the best progress possible. The staff focus on children's communication skills, their physical development, and their personal, social and emotional development in line with the expectations for the babies and young children attending.
• All staff concentrate on supporting children's speaking and listening skills. They recognise the importance of helping children to become clear and effective talkers. Staff help babies to make sense of their babbling, offering a commentary on their actions as they play, naming what children do, to help them gain an understanding of more words.
• Managers and staff pay particular attention to supporting children who speak English as an additional language. A number of children use more than one language and staff are particularly vigilant to ensure that these children have every opportunity to become confident communicators. Staff work closely with parents to ensure that they understand children's needs and how they can support their developing language skills. Parents appreciate staff's dedication and say they feel heard and understood.
• Staff help children to gain a love of books and words. Singing and storytelling are important features of children's daily lives in the nursery. Children join in with enthusiasm and delight as they make the actions that accompany the song or story, joining in with the phrases that they know. This helps to build children's vocabulary and their concentration skills.
• Children are delighted with the experiences that staff plan for them. They are eager to join in and to share their thoughts and ideas. Children learn about the smell and taste of fruits and herbs as they make their own drinks. However, staff do not consistently use routine activities, such as mealtimes, to support all children to practise and build on what they can do.
• Older children talk about vehicles and road safety. Staff are sensitive when they correct any misunderstandings. For example, when talking about traffic lights, children know that the red light means 'stop' but are unsure about the colour of the light that means 'go'. Staff rephrase their question and ask children what the green light does, and they immediately say it is for 'go'. However, there are occasions where staff do not match their teaching to children's needs. This means children do not have as many opportunities as possible to practise and embed some knowledge and skills.
• Managers work hard to ensure that the setting is well organised to meet children's care and learning needs. They provide staff with training to help them develop their practice. Managers and staff work well with parents and provide a very good level of communication. Parents have expressed their need for this high level of communication to be maintained going forward.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• assist staff to organise mealtimes more effectively so they are able to give children more support to practise the skills they need to use cutlery and pour their drinks
• support staff to more consistently ensure that their teaching precisely matches children's emerging learning needs.