Lavender Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very happy and settled. They are warmly welcomed by staff each day, which helps them to quickly engage in play with their friends. Children develop close bonds with staff, which contributes positively to their well-being. Staff support children's emotional needs effectively. They know children well, follow their lead and plan activities based on their interests and what they need to learn next. For example, children thoroughly enjoy playing outdoors when they find some snails. They watch in awe as the snails move around their hands and delight in collecting plants and water to make homes for them. Staff support children's learning effectively and extend it further by encouraging them to draw the snails before returning them back to the plants to 'go to bed'.

Children learn to be independent from an early age. They have ample opportunities to practise and manage their self-care needs. For instance, they serve their own food and drinks and enjoy being given the task of 'helper for the day' as they set up the tables before lunchtime.

Children's physical development is actively promoted and they enjoy taking part in regular exercise each day. They confidently take part in activities as they practise for their upcoming sports day. For example, they learn to throw beanbags and balls, balance, develop their hand-to-eye coordination and move in a variety of ways as they race with their friends.

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

• Overall, staff are very confident and have a good knowledge of the areas of learning and what they want children to learn. They plan activities effectively to support children's learning and monitor their development. This helps all children to make good progress and they are well prepared for the next stage in their learning.
• The manager and staff work well together to evaluate the effectiveness of the nursery. They have regular meetings to reflect on what is going well and identify any areas for improvement. Purposeful supervision meetings and observations of practice support staff to develop their teaching skills. Training has a positive impact on experiences for children. For instance, all staff have recently received key-person training to further develop their knowledge and skills.
• Overall, staff support children's developing language skills well. They speak clearly and slowly and repeat keywords to children for them to repeat. For children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, staff use effective resources and teach children signing to help them to communicate. Small-group times further support children's language skills as they have opportunities to talk to each other and have their say. Visual aids are used to enable all children to make independent choices and be involved. However, this is not consistent throughout. Some staff need more support on how to further support children's communication and language and extend their learning.
• The manager and staff have strong relationships with parents, who praise the nursery highly. The staff team regularly shares information with parents about their children's care and early learning. For example, parents are invited to regular stay-and-play sessions, workshops and meetings and are given ideas on how to support their children's learning at home.
• Staff encourage children's literacy development effectively. Children enjoy listening to a range of stories and regularly demonstrate their literacy skills during play. For example, older children confidently write their own names on flags they have made for their sandcastles.
• Overall, staff have high expectations of all children. A consistent approach to managing behaviour ensures that children feel valued and listened to. Children behave well and have good attitudes to learning. For example, they listen to instructions when it is tidy-up time and enjoy helping staff as they sweep up the leaves in the garden. Staff help children to understand about taking turns and sharing toys.
• The manager and staff establish strong links with relevant agencies to help ensure that children receive the specialist support they need to help them improve. Staff work well with other providers when the time comes for children to move on, to ensure that there is consistency in their learning and care.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the consistency of staff's understanding of how to support children's communication and language and further extend their learning.