Little Green Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children take delight in the time they spend at this small and happy nursery. Caring staff create nurturing and affectionate relationships, which help children to feel settled and secure. Children confidently interact with others and make choices about what they want to do. Staff take a genuine interest in children and families as they get to know them well. This helps them to tailor each child's care and learning. Staff focus on children's individual personalities and support them to develop their self-identity. They talk to children about what makes them unique, such as when they read stories together. As a result, children develop a positive understanding of their own cultures and backgrounds.

Children learn in a calm and purposeful atmosphere. Staff plan well-thought-out activities to enable all children to take part in the different learning opportunities. They support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. Staff's expectations of children's behaviour are clear and consistent. They model this behaviour and offer praise when children share and include others. The nursery is a harmonious place, where children feel safe. Children get along well together and behave well. For instance, they spend a great deal of time working cooperatively as they build with train tracks. Staff support children's social and emotional development well.

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

• The curriculum is focused on providing children with meaningful learning opportunities. Staff adapt and personalise the experiences they offer to the needs of each child. Recently, leaders have identified that not all children experience sensory play at home. Therefore, they ensure that they provide activities which include a wide range of materials and textures to help to stimulate children's senses as they learn.
• The nursery is very inclusive. Children with SEND achieve the best possible outcomes. This is because all staff know children well and carefully plan their next steps in learning. There are clear systems and processes in place to quickly identify children's needs. This allows staff to put effective support in place to meet the needs of all children. Staff have established good relationships and work with external agencies and other professionals to seek advice.
• Staff use established routines to support children and help them to settle quickly into nursery. Staff grasp opportunities to support children to develop their independence. Children confidently put their own shoes on and readily help themselves to drinks of water. However, on occasions, opportunities for children to further embed these good practices are not yet fully established. This is because, sometimes, staff do not consistently use these good practices to extend opportunities for all children.
• A sharp focus on communication and language weaves through children's experiences. Staff know the importance of developing children's vocabulary and encouraging talk for all children, including those who speak English as an additional language. Staff adapt activities for children. They guide their play to introduce words and sentences. For example, staff introduce new words, such as 'ingredients', while children use their imaginations to cook food. Children demonstrate their understanding of these words as the freely repeat the vocabulary and discuss their 'ingredients list'.
• Staff are very proud to work in the nursery and feel well supported in their roles. They appreciate leaders' attention to their workload and well-being. Leaders shows a drive for continual improvement. However, they are still embedding monitoring systems to enhance staff's practice, so that all children fully benefit from consistent approaches from staff.
• Children's emotional well-being is a high priority in the nursery. Staff strive to build positive relationships with parents. Parents and carers are positive about how their children's education at the nursery helps their children to grow in confidence and independence. They value the supportive relationships with staff.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop the opportunities further for children to develop their independence across all experiences
• continue to build on the professional development and coaching of staff, to enhance their good practice and extend children's learning to the highest level.