My Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children form strong bonds with their key person, allowing them to feel safe and secure. Children benefit from the well-managed process to help them settle in. This focuses on their emotional well-being. The staff know the children very well and understand how to develop and engage their interests. Children have fun exploring their environment and making choices about the activities they want to take part in. They enjoy making 'dinner' with real pasta in the home corner, as well as creating different types of pretend food with play dough. This helps children to develop their imagination.

Children behave exceptionally well and demonstrate a kind nature towards their friends and members of staff. They follow the boundaries and routines of the setting confidently and have consistently positive attitudes towards play. For example, children enjoy helping each other and are eager to complete tasks together. This helps them to develop their confidence and social skills by building positive relationships with others. Children enjoy engaging in planned activities and exploring the outdoor space. They listen to staff and to their friends, expanding their ideas as they consider how to do things differently.

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

• The manager has an ambitious vision for the nursery. This is reflected in the high staff morale. The staff communicate effectively as a team and feel well supported by the manager. The manager and staff are reflective and adapt practice when needed to meet the needs of all children.
• Overall, teaching is strong and children make good progress in their development. Staff plan a range of interesting activities based on children's interests and have a clear intent for children's learning. For example, there is currently a focus language development, sharing and turn taking. However, there are some occasions when staff do not build as fully as possible on children's interest in activities to extend their learning even further.
• Staff support children's independence well. For example, they teach children how to put on their own shoes and coats. This helps to develop children's self-confidence and self-esteem.
• Staff make good use of the outdoor space to create a broad range of physical activities for children. For example, children use the outdoor area to balance, climb and negotiate space using a variety of equipment. This supports their development of gross motor skills.
• The manager has effective procedures in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, she has secured specialist teaching support where needed to support individual children. The manager is committed to ensuring children are achieving the next steps in their learning.
• Staff communicate and share information with parents effectively. The manager has implemented an online system for photo sharing and uses parent questionnaires to gain feedback. Parents report good relationships with staff and feel comfortable sharing any concerns with them.
• Children demonstrate good hygiene practices through handwashing and healthy mealtimes. Staff encourage children to talk about their food choices and discuss alternatives to reflect their individua dietary requirements.
• Staff provide older children with an impressive selection of resources that successfully encourage their creativity and writing skills. There are similarly good resources available to the younger children. Staff ensure younger children have opportunities to make marks each day although the resources are not as readily available for them to explore independently.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend the opportunities for the youngest children to explore making marks, in preparation for writing
• provide more targeted support for staff to recognise opportunities that arise to extend children's learning further