Lesley's Private Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are welcomed into the nursery by friendly, smiling staff, who know each child well and are attentive to their individual needs. Children benefit from a carefully planned, sequenced curriculum that is designed to give them the knowledge and experiences they need for their future learning. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress and develop the skills they need for school. Children are engaged, stimulated, and motivated to learn more. They behave well because they are given clear, simple guidance that helps them to manage their feelings and behaviour.

Children are proud of the vegetable patch they have nurtured with the help of the nursery chef. They know that some fruit grows on a vine and that red tomatoes are ripe to eat. They talk about the buds that grow into fruit and vegetables. Staff model new words, such as 'courgettes' and 'squash'. This helps children extend their vocabulary. Children understand the importance of washing vegetables and fruit before they eat them.

Children have lots of opportunities to use their imagination and be creative. They develop their writing skills and control over tools when they use glue sticks, thread pasta onto string, and use different objects for painting. For instance, they use forks to paint spikes on their hedgehog. Children develop their mathematical skills when they explore numbers, size and three-dimensional shapes.

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

• Leaders and staff are fully committed to driving improvement in the nursery and raising children's care and learning to the highest level. Leaders carefully evaluate staff's practice and provide targeted training and coaching to address any areas for improvement. This means all staff continually build on their knowledge and skills.
• Leaders and staff implement highly successful transition arrangements for children as they move rooms and into school. Detailed information is gathered about children when they start in the setting. The key-person approach works particularly well. Children settle quickly and easily and receive high levels of support throughout their time in the nursery.
• Staff are quick to identify any gaps in children's learning and work well with parents and other professionals to address these. Strong partnerships with parents support children's learning at home. A wealth of information is shared with them through weekly emails, detailed monthly newsletters, online updates, and termly leaflets. These include activities to do at home, such as collecting and counting conkers, simple recipe ideas, and suggested books to read with their children.
• Children are confident and demonstrate high levels of self-esteem. This is supported by staff who praise them, encourage them to try new challenges and be resilient when things do not work first time. Children build secure relationships with other children and develop the social skills they need for school. They invite each other to play, share their ideas and help each other.
• Children enjoy small-group activities with their key person. These target children's next steps, such as developing their physical skills. However, at times, staff do not organise these effectively, and groups become too large as other children join in. Consequently, children do not have the best possible opportunities to build on their learning.
• Children enjoy imaginative play, such as using toy vehicles and in role play. In the main, staff extend children's learning well. For instance, they help children to develop story lines in their play. On occasions, staff are not perceptive to children's questioning or emerging interests. For example, children show staff their 'magic beans'. Staff miss the opportunity to help children to make the connection to the book they have read, and to the vegetables they have been growing.
• Staff promote good health and hygiene. They teach children to become independent in personal care routines ready for the move to school. Children enjoy a wide range of nutritious meals, planned and prepared by the nursery chef. Parents can also enjoy a healthy salad or a sandwich at lunchtime.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to always organise focused, adult-led activities effectively, so that groups are easy to manage and children have the best opportunities to learn
• be more perceptive to children's questioning and emerging interests during their play, to capture their curiosity and help them make connections in their learning.