Kings Farm Day Nursery & Kids Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff welcome children warmly as they say goodbye to their parents at the door. Children have developed confidence and secure attachments with the caring staff team and are pleased to see them. Staff provide an inviting, calm, and nurturing environment, which enables children to feel safe and secure. Staff plan for children to spend time in the local nature reserve, where they place a strong emphasis on developing their understanding of the world. Staff join children as they do physical activities in the challenging outdoor play environment, to support them to be active learners. Children laugh out loud and thoroughly enjoy copying adults as, for example, they jump into a deep puddle, spraying water everywhere. Children take manageable risks when they climb and balance in the trees.

Children are eager to join in activities. They bring a jigsaw to a staff member, who supports them to take turns in fitting the pieces together. Staff give praise and encourage children to keep on trying, which helps them to develop a positive attitude to learning. Staff ask children questions and encourage them to listen to their friends before they speak. Staff support children to foster a love of books, reading and language. For example, they read stories and sing songs and rhymes. Staff read animatedly and engagingly. Children sit and listen well to stories, and particularly enjoy their story time.

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

• The manager is a dedicated, knowledgeable, role model for her staff team. There are systems in place to monitor and mentor staff. Staff have a secure understanding of what they are teaching and what they want children to learn. There are strong staff role models in each of the nursery rooms. However, occasionally, less confident, less experienced staff rely on the stronger staff members. Consequently, at these times some children play without focus.
• Staff weave mathematics into children's learning. During group time, they use words such as 'estimate' and encourage children to guess how many boys and how many girls are present. Staff model counting and show children how to use their fingers to represent the numbers.
• Staff have embedded a secure curriculum. Babies pull themselves up to tables to reach items they want. Staff praise these efforts at first steps, encouraging them to do more. Toddlers practise their fine motor skills when, for example, staff give them safety knives to cut up fruit and vegetables. Staff working with pre-school children introduce words, such as 'phoneme', and encourage children to identify initial letters and sounds of words. This helps children to prepare for their eventual move into school.
• Staff model language well for children to copy. They use all opportunities to speak with children. Staff working with babies name animals as they explore a small-world farm, helping them to learn new words. Pre-school children are very confident speakers. They are curious and, for example, ask the inspector what she is doing in the nursery. Furthermore, children use language to express themselves, saying, for example, 'I've found a beautiful stick to make a slide.'
• Staff build strong relationships with children. They treat children with respect and are very caring and kind. Staff model kind behaviour. For example, staff who work with babies respectfully ask them if they can wipe their nose before they do so.
• Staff help children to understand the benefits of healthy lifestyles. Children wash their hands before eating their lunch. Staff sit alongside children to eat and support them to take responsibility for being independent at mealtimes. Children collect their cutlery, use knives and forks effectively, socialise with friends, and clean up after their meal.
• Children spend lots of time outside, either in the wonderfully resourced garden or walking through the village to the local nature reserve. Staff enhance these experiences and nurture children's fascination and curiosity. Children show that they know more and remember more when they tell staff they need to be careful when they see insects that may be hibernating. Staff build on this inquisitiveness by discussing the worms that children discover.
• Overall, partnerships with parents are strong. Parents are complimentary about the nursery staff. They appreciate the comprehensive handover they receive when they drop off and pick up their children. However, staff do not provide all parents with information about how they can continue their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support less confident and less experienced staff, to enhance the quality of their interactions with children, so that they consistently promote children's learning
• provide all parents with information about how to support their children's learning at home.