Mindful Me Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled at this nursery. They separate easily from their parents and are excited to play with their friends. Young children demonstrate they feel safe as they approach familiar adults for cuddles and reassurance. Older children learn to keep themselves safe. For example, staff teach children to use 'walking feet' when moving around the nursery. Children learn to behave well. They enjoy the responsibility of helping tidy up and recognise the staff's expectations. For example, children remind their friends to be quiet as they walk along the hallway past the baby room while babies are sleeping. Staff support children to develop skills for life, such as independence, kindness and confidence.

Children benefit from learning experiences appropriate to their age and stage of development. The youngest children strengthen their hand muscles as they enjoy squeezing sponges and become immersed in water play. Toddlers use their imagination as they pretend to make 'cupcakes' in the mud kitchen. Older children are inquisitive and show determination as they search for bugs and add them to the bug hotel in the garden. All children participate in activities to support their well-being. Staff provides sensory resources for children to explore and activities to include mindful breathing exercises, such as yoga to help them connect with their bodies.

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

• Staff provide strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They identify any developmental gaps in children's learning through regular assessments. Staff collaborate with parents and external professionals to help create tailored support plans for individual children. This approach ensures that all children receive the necessary support to achieve their learning goals.
• Staff provide a broad curriculum following a variety of topics to support children's learning. Pre-school children learn about their bodies and enjoy visits from the local dentist, where they learn about oral health. Staff plan group times to help children learn how their body works. Children listen to their heartbeats using a stethoscope and compare the difference before and after exercise. However, staff do not always carefully plan activities to ensure all children taking part can have a go and are supported to maintain interest and engagement. Consequently, some children become distracted and lose interest, which means they do not fully benefit from the planned teaching.
• Staff develop strong partnerships with parents and actively involve them in children's experiences. For example, parents are regularly invited into the nursery to take part in planned activities with their children. These activities help staff to share ideas regarding further supporting children's learning at home. Staff share information about the children's day via an online App and offer verbal feedback at the end of each day. This ensures parents are kept informed and up to date with their children's progress and care.
• The staff know their key children well. They monitor and assess children's progress to help identify what each child needs to learn next. However, staff do not always carefully plan children's self-chosen activities and learning experiences to support their next steps in learning.
• Staff focus on outdoor learning and provide children with a broad range of experiences to support their interests outside. Older children develop coordination and balance as they design and make an obstacle course. Staff encourage children to take risks safely and challenge themselves as they develop strength, agility and confidence. Younger children develop their hand-eye coordination as they use small tools to dig in the soil and fill buckets with sand.
• Leaders support staff well-being successfully, both professionally and personally. They organise regular supervision meetings to identify strengths and areas of improvement in staff practice. Leaders support staff as they develop new skills and enhance their knowledge.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well. They plan singing sessions and use songs and stories during everyday routines. As staff read stories to children, they give children time to look at each page and discuss what they can see. Staff offer parents home learning packs to support children's different ages and abilities. For example, story packs and props to continue to build children's language skills at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the planning of large-group activities so that all children benefit from the learning experiences and maintain engagement
• focus more precisely on supporting children's most relevant next steps in learning during children's self-chosen activities.