Miss Polly's, The Hurst Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children learn to be independent and develop their self-care skills. Toddlers wipe their own noses, and older children attend to their own toileting. Staff encourage children to put on their coats and shoes in preparation for outdoor play. All children make good progress from their starting points. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to help ensure that children are well prepared for the next stage in their education, including school.

Staff support children to follow their interests and provide activities that engage and excite them. For example, older children use a large piece of material as a parachute. They scream with excitement as the teddies they place in the middle are thrown up and down. They identify which teddy is little or big and adapt their singing to be loud or quiet. Children follow instructions carefully and are obviously proud when their efforts are praised.

Younger children have great fun as they play outdoors in a large tray that staff have skilfully prepared to provide them with sensory experiences. Children eagerly put their hands into soil, crushed cereal, pasta and foam. For some children, this is the first time they have accessed these materials. Staff encourage children with praise and are sensitive to support those who find the feel of the new textures a little unusual.

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

• The manager regularly observes staff practice and provides feedback on their strengths and areas they can improve. Staff benefit from regular supervision meetings. They receive targeted support and training to help raise the quality of their practice and skills. Staff talk confidently about their workload being managed and feel their well-being is supported effectively. Staff work well together as a team and share ideas and information about the children.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a strength at this setting. The special educational needs coordinator works closely with external agencies and staff to help meet children's specific needs. The manager spends extra funding with integrity to, for example, provide one- to-one staff to support children and to purchase suitable resources. Staff support children's learning and development well through careful planning for children's next steps in learning.
• Staff learn about the festivals children celebrate at home and plan activities around these themes. They display flags from different countries and different languages children speak at home. This allows children to learn about each other's customs and values. Staff celebrate each child and are respectful. They provide opportunities for children to understand the use of 'kind hands' and
• 'walking feet', which supports their behaviour.
• Staff use effective assessment and planning to help children to learn across all areas of learning. They regularly observe children and take photos of their play, which are shared with parents. Staff ensure that the curriculum is ambitious and sequenced effectively to support children to make good progress.
• Staff ensure that behaviour expectations and boundaries are clear and consistent for the children. They praise children for being kind and respectful when responding to one another. Staff show them, from a very young age, how to share toys fairly and to put things away when they have finished playing. They encourage children to use good manners, such as saying 'thank you' as they give them their healthy lunch. Staff support children to use cutlery and remain seated while eating. They provide a homely feel to children's mealtimes.
• Children enjoy some outdoor learning in the nursery garden. On occasion, they go for walks in the local community. However, the provision for such experiences is restricted to short, planned outdoor play sessions. Managers are mindful that this does not always enable those children who learn better outdoors to benefit fully.
• Children are motivated to explore and investigate and, overall, they show good levels of curiosity and concentration. However, some parts of the day are not as well organised to ensure that children remain focused and engaged. For example, during group activities and transition times, some children find it difficult to maintain their interest.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery. They talk about the progress their children have made and particularly comment that they have developed their communication and confidence. Parents are kept informed about their children's stage of development and have opportunities to contribute to children's developmental reviews. They say their children are happy to attend and that staff are friendly. They feel listened to as parents and communicate regularly with their child's key person. This helps children to experience consistency of care.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on the provision for outdoor play and experiences to provide more learning opportunities for those children who prefer to learn outdoors
• review and adapt the organisation of group activities and transitions throughout the day to maintain children's interest and minimise the disruption to their play and learning more effectively.