Kirklands at Startforth

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children learn how to stay healthy and happy at this welcoming and very friendly nursery. There is strong focus on healthy lifestyles and well-being. For example, staff explain to children the positive impact of healthy food on their bodies as they help to make dough. Staff explain how good food provides energy as children jump and run during exercise classes. Children learn to look after themselves and the wider world around them. For example, staff teach them how to compost and recycle. They talk to the children about the difference between hard and soft plastics and support them to recycle compostable waste. Children observe how the waste turns into compost and use this to help grow raspberries, beans and herbs in the nursery's enclosed garden.

Children enjoy lovely relationships and form close bonds with staff who are patient, calm and kind. Staff are very respectful and provide children with clear explanations and positive reminders about how to behave. The pace of activities is relaxed. This helps children feel settled and secure. Staff help children develop a sense of ownership and belonging. For example, the nursery bell is at child height so children can alert staff themselves when they arrive. Children grow rapidly in confidence and independence as they perform shows to their friends on a pretend stage. They pair up their own boots after going out to play and peel and chop their own fruit at snack time.

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

• Younger and older children learn and explore together through a wide range of challenging and exciting experiences and activities. For example, they enjoy making bread, fixing a broken tractor and learning about the different parts of a flower.
• Staff thoughtfully plan spaces the children use. They provide rich opportunities for children to explore with their senses, using tactile and natural materials and resources. Children show focus in their play and staff encourage them to think of their own ideas and solutions to problems.
• Teaching is of a consistently high quality throughout the setting. The setting's curriculum is creative and progressive. Staff have a firm understanding of what they are teaching and why. They make the most of all opportunities to embed and extend children's learning further.
• Children enjoy detailed conversations with staff who introduce new words to help extend their vocabulary. For example, children study a daffodil as part of an activity and learn the words, 'trumpet', 'petal' and 'stem'. They look in detail at the veins in leaves and learn how these help plants to grow and stay healthy.
• Children stretch and climb in the wooded area of the spacious garden. Staff design the layout of space so children learn to navigate their way around obstacles and develop their spatial awareness.
• Staff help children to learn how to use their hands in different ways. For example, children learn to snip herbs as they help to make garlic butter. They use tools and fill and empty containers using soil sawdust, and sand.
• There is a very strong focus on mathematics and this is woven through everyday experiences. For example, children compare the sizes of worms they find in the garden and the colour of balls they send down drainpipes to see how fast they travel. Children work together to decide how much water is needed to 'half fill' a jug, as they take turns to help during baking.
• Children learn about the wider world outside the setting. They take part in trips to the theatre and park. Children learn new skills through ballet lessons and swimming. Staff invite visitors into the setting to show children how clothes are made using a sewing machine. Children help to make their own superhero capes by choosing fabric and creating their own designs.
• The experienced and well-qualified staff work together very well as a team. For example, they support each other when assessing children's development. Staff speak very highly of the manager and the support they receive, including for their well-being.
• The manager encourages staff to develop their skills. For example, she supports them to take responsibility for key areas, such as literacy and mathematics, and to coordinate support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Parents speak very highly of the setting. They praise the 'amazing' staff and say they are 'compassionate, professional, highly motivated and very supportive'.
• The manager and staff understand very well the benefits of working in partnership with parents and other professionals in education and health. For example, the setting has built positive relationships with local schools to provide a consistent approach to support for children, as they move on to the next stage of their learning.
• The manager and staff actively seek and value the opinions of parents and children. They observe the way children use their space to adapt it to meet their needs. This helps to demonstrate how the needs and interests of the children are at the heart of everything staff do.