Kiveton & Wales Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and babies are fully engaged and highly motivated to learn throughout their time in this inspiring nursery. They make excellent progress in all aspects of their learning and are very well prepared for the next stage in their education, including starting school. The experienced and well-qualified staff team helps children to build strongly and consistently on their vocabulary and language skills through the sharply focused and well-planned curriculum. For example, two-year-old children confidently explain that the water is 'overflowing' in their water play because 'it is too full'. Older children learn to understand words such as 'volume' and 'capacity' as they fill their containers.

Children are very well behaved, and they feel safe and secure. The staff help children to increasingly recognise their own emotions and respect the needs of others. For example, children develop a deep understanding of the nursery's Golden Rules from using and experiencing 'kind hands' in the baby room to understanding how to use 'kind lips' when speaking and 'choose it, use it and put it away' as they progress through the nursery. Staff are excellent role models. Children achieve high levels of independence. Parents strongly appreciate the warm and caring nature of the staff and the professional guidance and support they consistently receive from them.

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

• The staff place the development of children's love of rhymes, songs and books at the centre of much of their learning. They support children to learn a very wide range of songs, to sing with confidence and clarity and to enjoy creating their own imaginative verses. They introduce children to a breadth of fiction, non-fiction and the children's own photo books and stories. This systematically deepens their language skills and enriches their knowledge of the world.
• The well-qualified and experienced manager and her deputy manager lead a highly motivated staff team. They have developed very efficient systems to take full advantage of training opportunities and of focused research to develop a rich and well-balanced curriculum. They have worked closely with the schools that the children move onto and with other early years providers to set clear and challenging goals for all their children to achieve.
• Staff strongly support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to help prepare them for the next stages in their learning. They work very closely with other professionals, such as speech therapists, medical support and inclusion services, to plan for and promote children's progress. They make very good use of any additional funding to meet the children's learning and emotional needs through, for example, developing their access to an imaginative range of outdoor experiences.
• Children's good behaviour and manners are very well supported. Children learn about their emotions and identify their feelings from well-chosen literature and through regular conversations and activities. Staff are very consistent in their interactions with children, and they help them to pause, listen to others and value their opinions. Children are very efficient at tidying away as they go along following the good examples that are set by the staff.
• Staff provide focused support to promote children's personal development. They plan carefully to help children who find it difficult to play or work alongside others to build positive relationships and friendships. They work very closely with parents to support their children's toilet training, dental care and other personal concerns.
• Staff take every opportunity to develop children's mathematical understanding. For example, children count as they walk along the stepping stones in the garden or step higher on the challenging climbing wall. Staff encourage the use of emerging addition and subtraction skills as, for instance, children explain that, 'There are only 12 children in the afternoon not 14 because two have gone home.'
• Children's physical development is systematically developed. Staff encourage children to challenge themselves as they make obstacle courses with tyres and natural objects. They plan action rhymes, dance and yoga experiences that encourage children and babies to stretch and balance.
• Parents strongly recommend the nursery. They are proud to participate in the effective management committee or join in with many events, such as the Gruffalo Trail or the summer fayre. They feel their views are listened to and valued.