N Family Midlands Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff focus on children's emotional well-being from the start. They have a secure understanding of how children build attachments, which is at the heart of the nursery curriculum to enable children to feel safe and secure. Before children start attending, the nursery staff meet with families and spend time getting to know them. This supports all children to settle in and flourish in this exhilarating and stimulating nursery.

Staff devise sharply focused plans and provide a unique curriculum. Children thrive in this setting. They are all highly motivated and eager to learn. Babies are confident and develop their physical and independence skills as they serve their own food and walk downstairs to the garden. They also develop excellent language skills through learning nursery rhymes and singing, which is central to the curriculum. Toddlers are fascinated by the world around them. They hunt for minibeasts and use magnifying glasses to look at them closely and talk about them. They independently access books to help them to identify minibeasts and learn about them. Older children enjoy recreating the bear hunt story outdoors as they look for clues, recognise the numbers on the clues, and skilfully blend and segment sounds in order to help them read simple words, such as 'bus' and 'jam'.

Staff have extremely high expectations for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They also implement clear boundaries and rules purposefully to ensure that children are kept safe and make the best possible progress. Children's behaviour is always exemplary. They are well mannered and kind to each other. Staff know the individual needs of each child and precisely support any emotional insecurities that children experience, such as when new children are settling in.

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

• The curriculum is seamlessly embedded throughout the nursery. Staff have an extensive knowledge of how children learn, and fully understand how the setting's unique curriculum supports children to be highly skilled and independent learners. This is evident across the nursery as children freely choose the activities they want to engage with and quickly become immersed in their learning. Staff are experts at teaching children to be inquisitive and self-motivated. Children persevere when they encounter difficulties and work together to find a resolution. For example, children in the garden work together to pick up tyres and skilfully roll them to the top of the hill. They use their core strength and excellent coordination skills to manoeuvre the tyres. They respect each other's space, wait patiently, and take turns. As a result, children become skilled at communicating, learn to cooperate, and build firm friendships with others.
• Senior leaders and the manager are incredibly passionate about giving every child an exceptional early years experience. Their commitment and dedication are infectious. They have devised a unique and ambitious learning programme that sequences and challenges every child's learning. Staff understand and deliver this in exciting ways that captivate children. As a result, children are engrossed in their learning and become well prepared for their next stage in learning.
• Senior leaders and managers prioritise staff's well-being and professional development. Staff comment on the incredible level of support they receive. The rigorous programme of induction, training, and supervision focuses precisely on the staff's teaching skills and practice. Managers provide targets for individual staff members, which they regularly review. This helps to improve the staff's already excellent teaching. All children are provided with exemplary quality care and education.
• Staff have great insight into how to support all children, including those with SEND and those who speak English as an additional language. These children make rapid progress in their learning. Staff understand how to support all children to feel confident and empower them to communicate their needs effectively. They quickly identify areas of development where children require further support, whether as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or a specific learning need, and take swift action to close any gaps. This ensures that all children make excellent progress.
• Parents play a key role in their children's learning experiences in the nursery. They contribute to their children's planning and what they want them to learn next. They attend training from keynote speakers to further support their children's learning at home and ensure that learning between home and nursery is cohesive and highly effective. This helps children to experience consistency, feel a great sense of belonging, and make the best possible progress in their learning and lives.
• Transition arrangements ensure that children are exceptionally well prepared for their move to school. Leaders and staff know what skills children need to prepare them to manage new environments and communicate their own needs. They liaise closely with schools to find out what they can do to support children to be fully prepared when they transition to their next stage of learning.