Little Ducklings Marble Hill Park Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a safe and welcoming setting for children. They are consistently kind and attentive, which supports children's emotional well-being and helps them to feel secure. Children develop close attachments with staff and good friendships with their peers. They enjoy the activities and make independent choices as they play. Staff and children come from a diverse range of cultures and backgrounds, which are valued and respected in the setting. Staff work closely with parents and carers to understand and celebrate the range of festivals and special events that they observe. This helps to promote children's positive appreciation of their similarities and differences.

Leaders are passionate about giving children the best start to their education. The curriculum is focused on developing children's confidence, resilience and love of learning. Staff provide children with broad and varied experiences, such as gardening, tennis, French and Mandarin lessons. They give children plenty of positive praise and encouragement, so that they feel well supported as they attempt and refine new skills. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They are clear about the rules and boundaries in place, especially around staying safe. This helps children to identify and manage potential risks as they play. For example, children ask staff to hold their hands as they practise balancing on a raised plank, until they feel happy that they can manage this by themselves.

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

• Staff make regular observations and assessments of children's abilities and have a good understanding of what they know and can do. They identify what children need to learn next and plan precisely for their developmental needs. Staff support all children to build positive relationships and improve their skills and knowledge. All children make good progress from their starting points in development.
• There is a strong emphasis on children learning outdoors, either in the setting's large gardens or the park in which it is located. This helps to ignite children's curiosity about the natural world. For example, children learn first-hand about the process of growing food. They observe the important role that small creatures play, such as how worms improve the soil and bees pollinate fruit trees. Therefore, children learn to value the environment and to treat living things with kindness and respect.
• Staff promote children's language and early literacy very effectively. They carefully choose the 'core books' that they want children to know well and read these with them often, nurturing their understanding of characters and events. Staff bring stories to life in exciting ways, such as by taking children to the park, to re-enact a story about a bear hunt. Children experience the meanings of words first-hand as they 'stumble trip' through a forest area and wade through 'swishy swashy' grass. This helps them to build broad vocabularies and develop a keen interest in reading.
• Staff provide an array of activities throughout the day, which foster children's enthusiasm for learning. However, at times, staff stick too rigidly to rules and routines, without considering the benefits to children. For example, they interrupt children's learning, to make them share resources or move on to another activity. This impacts on children's ability to focus and complete tasks to their own satisfaction.
• Staff promote healthy lifestyles for children extremely well. Children enjoy the tasty and nutritious meals which are prepared on site daily. Staff are positive role models and eat alongside children, encouraging them to try new tastes and textures. They teach children about the benefits of being physically active and getting fresh air, such as through outdoor yoga sessions. Children relish their time outdoors and demonstrate excellent physical skills.
• Leaders value staff and foster a happy and enabling working environment. They encourage staff to reflect on their practice and support them to achieve and improve their childcare qualifications. Leaders provide ongoing training, to help staff support and safeguard children at the setting. Staff say that they enjoy their roles and describe a good sense of teamwork.
• Parents are complimentary about the setting and comment on the close relationships that staff build with their children. They describe a consistent exchange of information, to support children's care and ongoing progress. Parents value the rich outdoor learning experiences the setting provides and report the positive impact on their children's physical health.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to review and improve how they implement the setting's rules and routines, to consistently support all children's learning needs as effectively as possible.