Kingswood Early Years Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thoroughly enjoy spending time at this friendly and nurturing nursery. They settle into the nursery's routines quickly. Children form close bonds with staff and their peers, and behave very well. Staff have high expectations of all children. They provide children with clear instructions. This helps children to understand what is expected of them. Children also learn how to share and take turns, with staff's guidance. Children are safe and secure.

The manager and staff are committed to providing the best possible care and education for all children. They plan a broad and exciting curriculum that supports children effectively to make good progress and develop the skills they need for future learning. This ensures that all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make progress and achieve.

Staff support children's language development well. Children sing lots of songs, answer open-ended questions and engage in conversations with staff as they play. Staff ask children to express how the sensory play activities feel. Children use words such as 'soft' and 'wet'. Staff support children to become confident communicators. Children demonstrate their independence as they fill containers of water to add to the activity. Staff extend children's vocabulary further by introducing new words, such as 'empty' and 'full'.

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

• Parent partnerships are a key strength of the nursery. Parents are invited to attend termly meetings to talk about their child's development. They feel valued and enjoy being part of the nursery through a range of experiences, such as stay-and-play sessions and sports day events. Staff encourage parents to reflect on their experiences at the nursery. Parents comment on the progress their children make, especially in their communication skills.
• Staff know children well and provide a stimulating learning environment for children of all ages. They identify children's individual next steps in learning and provide activities that promote these. However, staff do not always organise group activities effectively to encourage all children to fully concentrate and engage in activities. This means that, at times, children's engagement levels are not always consistent.
• The manager and staff have high expectations, overall, for children's learning and their readiness for school. They work well with other professionals to provide consistent support for children with SEND.
• Children benefit from a range of stimulating resources that fire their imaginations and help to motivate them to explore. Children play cooperatively as they use their imaginations to negotiate and take turns in the role-play area.
• This helps children to develop their social skills as they form friendships.
• Staff promote children's communication and language skills well. For example, they encourage children to listen to stories and repeat words from familiar stories.
• Children and staff sit and eat together at mealtimes. Children enjoy healthy food, which is served daily on site, and eat heartily. Staff model how to use cutlery and support children's lively conversations. They discuss healthy eating and why it is important to exercise. Children develop a positive attitude to food and behave courteously at the table.
• Children who speak English as an additional language benefit from targeted support to ensure that they make good progress in their development of English. Many staff are multilingual. They use this knowledge to support children and their families. Parents complete translation sheets, so staff know and can pronounce key words. This ensures that children's home languages are also valued.
• Leaders prioritise staff's well-being. Staff comment on how valued they feel. Leaders complete staff supervisions. However, they do not always focus their support on enhancing staff's individual skills and knowledge. For example, at times, staff do not focus some group activities on children's individual learning.
• Children have regular opportunities to play outdoors and engage in physical activities. Children and families thoroughly enjoy taking part in a sports day event. They excitedly take part in skill games with balls and dance to their favourite music, which reflects the cultural diversity of families. This helps children to learn about people and communities that may be different to their own.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan focused activities more carefully to make the best possible use of opportunities to support children's concentration and engagement levels
• support staff to extend their individual knowledge and skills further, to ensure that all children's voices are heard.