Meadow Hill Education and Arts Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The development of children's confidence is given high priority. Staff build relationships with all children from the start and consider children's emotional well-being. Children are taught how to understand and follow instructions, for instance using manners, listening at group time and being kind. Staff delegate the role of 'table captain' at mealtimes, where children set the table for their friends. This helps them gain a sense of responsibility. Children learn what makes them unique. They share their favourite foods and, after painting portraits of themselves, staff help them identify the differences and similarities between their peers. Children communicate with clarity and confidence. They are polite, content and busy.

Staff know children well and how to help them continue making good progress. They implement targeted plans for children if they identify gaps in their development. Children quickly catch up, keep up and sometimes excel in their learning. Children are given a breadth of opportunities to expand their skills. Older children experience sessions in golf, cricket, dance and foreign languages. Older children show high levels of concentration, showing good preparation for their move to school. Leaders have developed practice since the last inspection to help improve the care and education for all children.

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

• Leaders have reflected on the previous inspection to enhance the curriculum, particularly for older children. They have developed an understanding of how to better support children's behaviour. As a result, children understand age-appropriate rules and boundaries and receive high levels of praise when they achieve. Children show confidence and self-esteem during their play and seek comfort from staff if they need it.
• In the main, learning is sequenced well from the start. However, staff do not consistently check what children already know prior to planning activities to tailor the curriculum. This means that some children are not ready for the learning that is expected from them. They occasionally lose interest in play or do not understand what is being taught. That said, children are usually happy to listen and wait for the next instruction during activities.
• Overall, children have the chance to explore and learn within the well-equipped environment. However, the teaching of the curriculum is occasionally over-directed by staff and does not consistently support children's independence. For example, younger children are all asked to create the same picture. Additionally, children take part in a high number of adult-led activities. This occasionally restricts children's creativity and ability to make choices and follow their own ideas during play.
• Children's mathematical skills are supported and intertwined throughout the nursery. Older children say, 'Let's make it higher!' as they add more blocks to their towers. Additionally, they sing number songs where they know how to add and subtract one more at each verse. Younger children are starting to understand the order of numbers and size as they count items of food in a story and find the biggest caterpillar.
• Leaders have a clear passion for the nursery and are highly focused on embedding a broad and rich curriculum. They model some excellent teaching skills to staff and help develop their practice. Staff seek out training they wish to complete in relation to their interests and the needs of children in their care. This helps staff take ownership of their own progression. Staff are enthusiastic about their roles and strive for excellence as a team.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported and their individual needs are valued. Parents are encouraged to carry out strategies that are used in nursery to help children's learning continue further. For example, if a gap in children's speaking skills is identified, staff share advice with parents about how to improve communication.
• Leaders work closely with a range of local primary schools to help children's move into Reception class. They complete detailed transition forms to share with teachers, showing what children can do and where they need a little more help. Additionally, children learn skills such as getting changed into uniforms, concentrating on tasks and self-care routines. Teachers are welcomed into the nursery to make initial bonds with children. These techniques help children's transition to school to be a smooth process.
• Parents are delighted with the care and education their children receive. They feel involved with their children's learning, for example, through invitations to children's concerts and nursery garden parties, and they are invited into the nursery on a regular basis for an update on their children's development. Parents know how to share information.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve all staff's ability to recognise what children already know and can do, in order to deliver a curriculum that meets all children's individual learning needs
• encourage children to use and develop their creativity and thinking skills even more often, particularly for those children who show interest in exploring their environment.