Lingfield College Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff have created a warm and calm atmosphere in the baby room, which enables children to settle quickly and engage well in their learning. Children enjoy the broad and interesting range of activities that staff plan for them. For example, children thoroughly enjoy their time outdoors. They are enthralled as staff help them to find minibeasts under logs. Staff name each minibeast clearly and encourage children to repeat these words. This successfully enables children to develop their vocabulary and understanding of different words.

Staff skilfully adapt their interactions with children to ensure that they continue to support them well. For instance, staff are enthusiastic as they share in children's achievements. Children beam with delight as they show pride in their accomplishments. When children need time to rest and settle down, staff provide them with warmth and kindness. This helps children to build secure bonds with staff.

Staff model positive behaviour to children throughout the day, such as saying 'please' and 'thank you' during their interactions with them. Staff also praise children when they do something well, which helps them to develop a good attitude towards learning. Staff give children opportunities to learn to share with their friends, and they talk to them about why they should take turns. This helps children to learn from a very young age how they are expected to behave.

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

• Leaders have high expectations for all children to make the best possible progress. As such, they implement an effective and ambitious curriculum that is designed to appropriately challenge children. They support staff to plan well for children's learning, such as encouraging them to consider children's next steps and interests. They also ensure that the daily learning intention is clear for all staff to see and understand. This enables staff to know what they want children to learn and how they are going to support them with this.
• Leaders ensure that they put effective support in place for staff in relation to their professional development and well-being. Staff appreciate that leaders are knowledgeable and approachable, which enables them to seek guidance and encouragement in all aspects of their role. This helps leaders and staff to continue to improve the quality of experiences that children receive at nursery.
• Leaders and staff ensure that the daily timetable provides children with access to a wide range of activities and experiences. This includes physical education lessons and forest school sessions. Staff build on these experiences to further support children's development. For instance, children thoroughly enjoy exploring muddy puddles, laughing with staff as they jump and splash.
• Staff know their key children very well, including their interests and where they are in their development. This enables staff to plan engaging activities based on children's interests and what they want them to learn next. For instance, staff effectively support children to explore a sensory tray, encouraging them to engage with the variety of textures and smells. Staff model to children how they can play with the resources in different ways, such as feeling, smelling, mixing and shaking. Children show high levels of fascination as they enthusiastically share their experiences with staff. This helps children to sustain their attention in their learning.
• Leaders and staff establish good partnerships with parents. They actively promote a two-way flow of information sharing, such as through the parent app, discussions and newsletters. Parents value the consideration and attention that leaders put into ensuring that children settle in well to the nursery. Parents comment on the 'high-quality' teaching and say that their children enjoy their time at the nursery. However, there are some inconsistencies in the support for parents to continue their children's learning even further at home.
• There are good arrangements to support children's good health. Staff ensure that the daily routines help children to develop good personal hygiene habits. For instance, they ensure that children wash their hands before they eat. They are also diligent in their approach to checking that the food offered to children meets their dietary requirements and is prepared safely.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to more consistently work with parents to continue children's learning at home.