Nanny Jo's Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Babies and children flourish in this exceedingly inclusive and welcoming nursery. The management team and staff consistently show genuine care for children's physical and emotional well-being by placing their individual needs at the heart of everything they do. A robust key-person system and bespoke settling-in process mean children settle swiftly and seamlessly, gradually building attachments to the nurturing staff before starting. Babies smile and hold their arms out to their key person on arrival, demonstrating that they feel safe and comfortable and build trusting bonds with them.

Children's behaviour and attitude to learning are exemplary, as staff consistently commend children's positive behaviours, efforts and achievements. This fosters a positive sense of self. Children frequently say, 'I did it,' expressing their belief in themselves and confidence in their strengths.

Staff provide enticing and stimulating experiences throughout the nursery. These experiences consider individual interests, which draws children's attention and provides them with superb opportunities to lead their learning through play. Natural environments support children to feel awe and experience the wonder of the world. Hands-on activities help children understand life cycles and explore growth. With appropriate levels of support from staff, children learn to risk assess different environments themselves. Children practise what they have learned effectively by showing great road safety awareness on outings.

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

• The management team and staff are extremely passionate and care deeply about the role they play in shaping young minds. The meticulously designed curriculum, which is ambitious for all, is embedded securely and consistently across the nursery. Staff are supported extremely well by the management team. It offers training and models extremely high-quality teaching. As a result, all children make rapid progress in all areas of learning and development.
• Outstanding attention is given to meeting children's specific, and sometimes highly complex, health needs. The management team communicates regularly with parents and outside professionals, such as paediatric nurses, to ensure that all staff understand the detailed plans for their care and ensure they are strictly followed.
• Overall, teaching is superb. Babies and children make rapid progress in their speech and language development in language-rich environments. Children with delayed speech and language benefit from effective, targeted interventions delivered by highly trained staff. For example, skilful staff give children time to reflect on and communicate their own answers to questions. This helps them develop key language and communication skills. Children also learn Makaton sign language to help them communicate.
• Staff gather in-depth information from parents before their children start. Staff use this unique knowledge to champion children's individuality magnificently. For example, at group time, children learn to say 'hello' in children's home languages. Children learn to appreciate diverse communities, and this fosters a positive and respectful culture for all children to learn in.
• Expert staff support babies and children to become increasingly independent in their self-care needs as they go through the nursery. Older children independently put on their sun hat before going outdoors and regularly drink water on a warm day. This demonstrates their super efficiency in taking care of their personal needs. Children follow first-class hygiene routines before mealtimes, and staff help them understand why this is important to their health.
• Babies show high levels of confidence in social situations as they wave to visitors as they enter the room. Babies' physical development is supported by well-resourced environments, and they confidently start to use soft-play equipment to pull up on, developing their strength and balance to support them in learning to walk.
• Children learn to accept the needs of others exceptionally well. They learn to share through staff who role model turn-taking games. They respond extremely well to boundaries promoted by staff and know what is expected of them with consistent routines, such as tidy-up time.
• Parents speak incredibly highly of the nursery. They feel valued as an important part of their child's early education, with daily face-to face and online communication. Parents report how staff go above and beyond to discuss their child's ongoing progress, and they are confident in how to support their child's further learning and development at home.