Monton Village School Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff form strong bonds with children through their warm and enthusiastic interactions with them. This leads to children entering the nursery happy and eager to start their day. On the rare occasions when children become upset, staff quickly reassure them. Staff ensure that they listen to children and their voices are heard. This helps all children to settle and feel safe.

Staff have high expectations for children. They support children effectively to understand that their words and actions impact upon others, such as making people feel sad. This results in children showing care for others. For example, during play times, children share with their friends. Children are developing respectful attitudes towards others.

Children benefit from a curriculum that entices them to learn new things and engage in a wide range of experiences. Staff help babies to develop their whole hand grasp through sensory experiences, such as exploring spaghetti and rice. Staff's animated story telling builds children's love of reading, as they listen to the story and excitedly point to the illustrations. Pre-school children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. They recite the key facts they have learned about worms with their pre-school teacher. All children engage well in the learning experiences around them.

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

• The manager has developed a curriculum that creates confident, independent, and 'life-long' learners. Leaders have sequenced the curriculum so that children build upon prior learning and develop the skills they need for their next stage of development. For example, toddlers develop their ability to use stairs from purposefully chosen outdoor equipment. This helps them to use stairs confidently when they move to the next room. Children are making good progress in all areas of their learning.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively to make progress in their learning. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) updates her knowledge to ensure she can successfully support both children and staff. The SENCo and staff work closely with parents and external agencies to ensure that children are working towards their next steps. Children are making progress from their starting points.
• Children are curious learners, who demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. However, on rare occasions, staff are not always attuned to the learning needs of all children. For example, during activities, children who are more confident occasionally take over the activity, meaning those who are quieter do not have the same learning experiences as others.
• Children behave extremely well. There is a consistent routine, so children know what is happening and what is coming next. This helps children to regulate their behaviour, as they know what is expected of them. For example, at tidy-up time, children quickly help their friends to tidy up.
• Children's emotional well-being is prioritised by staff. Staff are warm and caring. They work closely with parents and other staff to ensure they help children feel secure. For example, when children struggle to settle, staff ensure that they find out detailed information about them to provide emotional support. As a result, children settle quickly.
• Staff support children to be independent. They teach children to feed themselves independently. Older children are beginning to use a knife and fork skilfully. Children are encouraged to persevere when they struggle with activities such as putting on their coats. When children master a skill, they beam with a sense of achievement and are praised by staff. Children are becoming increasingly independent.
• Overall, staff implement good hygiene routines. For example, all children, including young babies, learn how to wash their hands with soap and water before mealtimes. However, hygiene practices are not consistently embedded throughout the nursery. Some staff, at times, do not wash their hands after wiping runny noses or encourage children to do the same. This means children are not consistently supported in understanding healthy practices.
• Parents speak highly of this nursery. They are given regular opportunities to attend 'stay-and-play' sessions. Staff work closely with both parents and outside agencies to keep them well informed of children's development. For instance, the manager has a close working relationship with the local health visitor to help support consistency with assessments, such as the progress check at age two. This helps to promote consistency in children's learning and development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to recognise when to adapt learning opportunities to meet all children's learning needs
• support all staff to implement hygiene practices consistently.