Longdale Nursery School & Children's Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are supported to feel secure in the nursery when they arrive. For instance, staff get down to their level and talk to them about their experiences at home. Children talk to staff about going to a farm and staff encourage them to tell their friends. This helps children to move into the playrooms and separate from parents confidently. Children are supported to behave well by staff. For example, in the toddler room, staff roll a toy car to children and ask them to roll it to their peers. This contributes to children's understanding of how to share and take turns.

Outside in the garden, when it rains, children show excitement to jump in puddles, and laugh with staff and their peers. They develop their coordination as they move from one foot to another when they stamp in the water. Children develop their balance as they walk across a low-level beam. Staff are aware of children who can do this on their own and others who may need a reassuring hand. This helps to develop children's confidence and promote their safety if they are unsure. Children in the pre-school room move their bodies in different directions as they copy staff to move scarves to the left, side, and around their bodies. Children listen to and follow staff's instructions, which helps them to learn skills for when they move onto school.

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

• The management team supports staff well. For example, they provide supervision and appraisal meetings to help staff to reflect on their performance. Staff are supported to extend their professional development. For instance, in-house training helps staff to build on their knowledge of how to use sign language to support children's speaking skills. This is particularly beneficial for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to help them to communicate.
• The cook offers children a range of healthy meals that meet children's dietary requirements to promote their good health. Staff talk to children about the ingredients in the food they eat and help them to understand the names of different vegetables. They help children to understand the benefits of the food on their bodies. For example, staff tell children that they should eat all of their food to make them strong.
• Children with SEND are supported well. Additional funding is used to provide one-to-one support from staff to implement children's individual targets and help them to develop. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to identify how they can meet children's individual needs.
• Staff in the toddler and pre-school room focus their curriculum on supporting children's independence. For example, staff ask children in the toddler room to serve their food at lunchtime. In the pre-school room, children pour their own drinks and scrape any left-over food into a container when they have finished eating. However, sometimes, staff in the baby unit do not ensure that self-care strategies are followed consistently. For instance, children are not offered consistent opportunities to drink from open-top cups.
• The manager and staff reflect on the experiences they offer children. Staff in the toddler room make changes to how children are encouraged to participate in tidying away toys when they are asked. For example, if children put toys away, they receive a pom-pom to put into a jar and a sticker to reward their achievements.
• Overall, staff support children's communication and language skills well. For example, in the baby room, staff sing nursery rhymes with children to support their early speaking skills. However, occasionally, in the pre-school room during planned activities, staff do not fully support children to share their thoughts and views. For instance, when children use soil and containers to pretend to bake, staff talk to them about what they think they are making, instead of asking children. Improving this will help to further support their speech and language development.
• Staff share information with parents about their children's development, which helps them to be involved in their children's learning. However, when children move on to or attend another early years setting, staff do not consistently share information about children's learning or support them to be emotionally ready for their move.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to implement agreed strategies to support children's self-care skills in the baby unit
• help staff to build on their interactions with children in the pre-school room during planned activities, to encourage children to share their own thoughts and views
• develop partnerships with other early years settings that children attend and move on to, to help to support their emotional development and consistency in learning.