Mayfield Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are cared for by staff who are warm, attentive and approachable. They implement effective partnerships with parents to help children to move with ease into the nursery. This helps children to feel happy, safe and secure. Older children in the pre-school area display high levels of social confidence. For example, they greet unfamiliar adults happily and ask them important questions like, 'Why are you here?' and What's your name?' Children of all ages eagerly join in activities and play alongside their friends. Staff implement a creative curriculum that is filled with interesting experiences that support all areas of children's development. This encourages children to become inquisitive, motivated and confident learners. Staff promote children's literacy skills well. Children have tremendous fun mark making in all areas of the nursery. For example, younger children explore with chalks and crayons on paper while older children are beginning to show an interest in letter sounds and take part in 'show and tell' circle times.

Children behave well. They learn to take turns, share and make their own choices. Staff have high expectations of all children. They use fun strategies to support children to learn about emotions and talk about how they feel. They access 'emotion monsters' and talk about feelings, such as happy, angry, sad and scared.

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

• Staff support and encourage children to become skilful confident communicators. Children have ample opportunities to widen their vocabulary. They engage in circle time discussions and activities. For example, younger children take part in singing sessions and listen to stories in small groups and in one-to-one interactions with staff. Older children are introduced to the 'word of the week', where they learn new words and their meaning. For example, they learn about words, including 'virtue', 'gratitude' and 'forgiveness'.
• Children explore a wide range of resources and activities to help their coordination skills and balance. For example, they play games like 'Cross the river' and learn balance and coordination on climbing frames. Babies have fun practising their developing hand-to-eye coordination as they use hammers to release artic animals from ice blocks. They confidently climb in and out of the ball pool.
• Children's understanding of the importance of following a healthy lifestyle is fostered well. They have access to fresh healthy nutritious meals and snacks daily and older children brush their teeth after lunch. During these times staff engage children in discussions about what is good and bad for their bodies and teeth.
• The staff team are aware of their role to closely monitor and track children's development. They regularly identify next steps for children's learning to ensure they are continually progressing. The management team's tracking system successfully supports them to identify groups of children that may have gaps in their learning.
• Staff develop older children's independence well. Children take an active role in getting dressed for outdoor play, by putting on their own coats and shoes. They pour their own drinks, serve their meals and scrape out their plates when finished. However, staff have not thought sufficiently about how these skills develop throughout the nursery. Children in the toddler room have limited opportunities to develop skills that support their growing independence. This results in snack times becoming noisy and children become less engaged and unsettled as they wait to be served.
• Parents are encouraged to take part in nursery activities. Recently a parent who is a firefighter came to visit with a fire engine and colleagues, This provided children with the opportunity to learn about people who help us in the community. Parents speak highly of the nursery. They relish the daily updates on their children's routines and learning via the app. Parents comment that the 'staff are amazing and they create a lovely atmosphere'.
• Staff's ongoing professional development is encouraged as they complete regular training throughout the year. For example, pre-school staff have completed training in mathematics and early literacy development. As a result, children have become more confident in these areas of learning, strengthening key skills for their school readiness.
• The owner and the new manager work well together. They are committed to making improvements to the provision and practice. The management team are reflective and use a number of strategies, such as staff meetings, supervision and tracking to help them to identify areas for development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• encourage staff to identify and maximise opportunities for children in the toddler area to be independent during daily routines.