Kings Meadow Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are at the heart of everything that this nursery does. They flourish in this highly nurturing and inclusive environment. Children form exceptionally close bonds with staff, who are attentive to their particular needs. They receive lots of praise and encouragement. This supports children to feel safe, secure and confident in their environment. Children proudly tell the inspector about their nursery, and the fun and exciting experiences that they have here.

Managers and staff have the highest aspirations for all children. They provide an outstanding learning environment with an abundance of experiences. Staff promote equality and diversity throughout their teaching, and children's uniqueness is celebrated. Children have a good awareness of similarities and differences. For example, staff organise small-group activities for children of mixed abilities. The most-able children benefit from supporting their friends, which gives them a sense of responsibility. They show great kindness, and an awareness of their friends' additional needs. For example, children support their friends who have communication difficulties to express themselves.

Children follow an exciting and ambitious curriculum, which supports children's communication and language skills extremely well. Staff sing songs to babies, introducing repetition of words and sounds to aid their early language. Children in the toddler room are captivated as staff read a story to them using different voices and facial expressions to capture children's interests. Children happily join in with the story using puppets. Children are happy and enthusiastic learners.

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

• The very experienced manager and staff work exceptionally well together and there is a real sense of family. The manager is highly knowledgeable and has a clear vision for excellence. She uses feedback from parents, children and staff to evaluate the setting. All staff, from the newest to the long-standing members, describe the excellent support that managers give them.
• Staff have the highest expectations of all children in their care. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are supported exceptionally well by staff. Staff give careful consideration to how additional funding is used in order to have the greatest impact and improve outcomes. For example, they have used funding to purchase sensory equipment to support children's learning and encourage their engagement and exploration. Staff are thorough in collating observations from their earliest moment of concern. They use these to highlight areas of children's needs to outside agencies.
• All parents speak extremely highly and passionately about the setting and the caring and dedicated staff team. They describe the support that they and their children have been given. Parents receive thorough feedback on their children's learning and development. The manager and staff have implemented various inventive ways for parents to support their children's learning at home. Parents speak of how useful this has been. For example, they describe working in partnership with staff to support their children with their early mathematical skills.
• Staff give a high priority to children learning outdoors as part of their everyday routine. Children develop superb independence and physical skills. Older children skilfully ride bicycles. They demonstrate expert balance and coordination and are careful not to bump into their friends. Children follow their curiosity and natural impulses to explore in the nearby meadow area, which they have regular access to.
• Staff focus on giving children the information and skills that they need to make ongoing healthy lifestyle choices. Children thoroughly enjoy the setting's healthy home-cooked meals. Staff have conversations with children about the importance of making healthy choices. Children learn about the links between healthy food and good dental hygiene. Parents are also given this information through a display showing the hidden sugars in foods.
• Children in the pre-school room gain impressive skills in preparation for moving on to the next stage in their education. Staff seize every opportunity to extend their learning through skilful interactions. For example, older children spend time in small groups developing their early reading skills. Staff give regular and meaningful praise which supports children's confidence and enjoyment in learning.
• The manager meticulously plans a broad, varied and challenging curriculum that builds on children's knowledge and skills. She ensures that staff receive focused and effective professional development opportunities that enhance their already superb practice. For example, staff complete training around forest school activities and share this learning with their colleagues. This has increased staff's knowledge of the learning experiences for children outdoors, supporting children's creativity and independence skills.