Lower Beeding Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children thrive in this outstanding nursery. Leaders and staff expertly encourage children's confidence, independence and thinking skills in every interaction. Staff are exceptionally skilled at supporting children in an enthusiastic and calm way. This has an incredibly positive effect on children's well-being and development in all areas. Children love spending time outdoors. They recall learning from previous weeks, where they learned about animals and their habitats. They joyfully explore the wooded area in the park opposite, stopping to listen to and observe birds and other wildlife. Children repeat back the new vocabulary they have learned as they discover insects living in logs. Staff, who are exceptional role models, inspire and interact with children throughout the experience. As a result, children are enthusiastic about their learning and confident to express their understanding, new vocabulary and their wants and needs.

Staff have extremely high expectations of children and encourage them to make choices about their learning and routines throughout the day. They do this in an incredibly warm and engaging way that promotes an exciting and enabling learning environment. For example, children join a cookery club and browse recipes to decide what to cook, making lists of things for staff to buy at the shops. Children learn a multitude of skills as they browse cookery books, 'write' lists, prepare ingredients and make food for the other children to share. This has an incredibly positive effect on their confidence, self-esteem and sense of belonging at the nursery. Children show that they understand the expectations of the nursery. When issues arise over sharing, staff patiently speak to children about what solutions they can agree on together. As a result, children show exceptionally high levels of respect for each other, the staff and the nursery environment.

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

• Managers and staff have an inspirational and clear vision about what they want children to learn at the setting in each area and at each age. They prioritise children's independence, confidence, language and self-esteem. They achieve this exceptionally well, and children feel that they have a say in the decisions made about their nursery. Children are consulted via a 'committee' that they are all able to contribute to. For example, staff meet with children to decide which vegetables they will grow in their garden. This consultation process is carried out consistently and in a meaningful way.
• The curriculum is ambitious and highly effective. All staff know the children exceptionally well. They adapt their interactions, activities and experiences to suit each child's next steps, learning needs and interests excellently. Staff do this through their planning and also how they speak to children throughout their learning. As a result, all children are thriving, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, who are celebrated and supported to achieve the best outcomes.
• Managers carefully plan and include activities to enhance children's experiences beyond the nursery. They expertly do this via clubs available during the day to give children knowledge and skills that they may not ordinarily experience. For example, children learn to explore their senses and learn about nature and animals in forest school club, and they practise their physical skills during sports club. The clubs are available to all children and have an incredibly positive effect on their development, confidence and self-esteem.
• Children, including children who speak English as an additional language, learn to become highly confident communicators. Staff expertly support children with new vocabulary and give children a chance to practise the new vocabulary throughout the day. For example, children learn the word 'nocturnal' through a discussion about a story. Later, as they look for animals in the park, children are questioned about whether owls will be seen during the day. Children gleefully exclaim that owls will not be seen because they are 'nocturnal'.
• Staff consistently give children time to respond to interactions and situations, so they have time to process what they have heard or consider what needs doing. For example, as children help get the tables ready for lunch, they are encouraged to think for themselves about what will be needed on each table. Children are involved in every stage of lunchtime. For example, as well as setting the tables, they serve themselves and each other with large serving spoons from the large bowls on the table. Children rapidly grow in confidence and independence and develop excellent skills for future learning.
• Parents speak glowingly of the nursery and staff. They describe how the staff support not only their children but the whole family. Parents describe how the staff appear happy and enthusiastic while working at the nursery. They describe how this atmosphere has a positive effect on their children's well-being and development. Managers successfully support children's learning at home in numerous ways, such as by providing a lending book library and home learning bags to support transition to school, new siblings and oral health. This helps establish a close, collaborative partnership between the nursery and home.