Naturally Learning Falmouth

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children positively thrive in this natural and superbly planned nursery. Children's needs are central to everything leaders and staff plan and consider. Children are extremely happy, as the caring and knowledgeable staff know them so well. Babies and toddlers snuggle into staff as they sing rhymes and listen to stories. Pre-school children eagerly show staff their achievements. They are delighted with the interest they are shown. Children behave incredibly well and work collaboratively.

Children make excellent progress. The curriculum is thoughtfully developed to engage all children in their learning. It is beautifully sequenced, so children learn in a deep and meaningful way. Babies and toddlers explore space, quantity and measure as they pour water into bottles and pots for spring flowers. Staff model words such as full and empty and the children repeat the words. Pre-school children create beautiful pictures of flowers, inspired by the selection of real flowers readily available to them. They use the correct colours as adults help them to think about what they can see. They are beginning to understand how the flower is structured. They use rich language to talk about their picture, such as stem, petal, and pollen. Staff have extremely high expectations for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children quickly learn how to be independent. They show a very positive can-do attitude when they try new ideas and activities.

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

• All children show tenacity and perseverance when they want to achieve something. This is because the nurturing staff expertly encourage them to succeed. For example, toddlers build with wooden blocks, the tower is as tall as they are. One child is determined to add more blocks. He uses the nearby cupboard to hold onto and stands on his tiptoes to reach. He is bursting with pride when he manages to successfully balance the block. Staff give him warm and genuine praise. Pre-school children are helping to light the fire for story time in the garden. They patiently have a go at creating a spark with flint and steel. They use lots of concentration and hold the items carefully and firmly with their fingers. Staff support them to use the spark to successfully light the fire. The children are delighted with their success. They know that the fire can be dangerous and then move outside the fire circle seats.
• Babies and toddlers rapidly learn new words. Staff expertly model and extend language as they work alongside them. Toddlers are exploring play dough. Staff model words like rolling, squashing and refer to making pancakes. Toddlers copy the words and then exclaim 'flat' as they recall making pancakes. Pre-school children develop a deep understanding of language and how to use it creatively. Staff encourage them to use their imagination through an inclusive story telling session. Pre-school children discuss their ideas for the story, and that they are playing on a pretend 'Coconut Island' together. They then continue the story within their play outside.
• All the children love to play outdoors. They move around freely to develop their physical skills. The outdoor gardens are carefully designed to develop children's healthy lifestyles and choices. Toddlers and babies explore the sensory garden, filled with herbs and different textures. They also practise balancing on beams and dig in sand in the courtyard. Pre-school children spend much of their day in the large garden. They have their healthy home-cooked meals out there. They clear and wash up their dishes in the camp style kitchen area. They also draw and make meaningful marks, run, climb and create water systems. They thoroughly enjoy helping grow fruit and vegetables in the garden area they helped to design and make.
• The special educational needs coordinator has excellent relationships with other agencies. This ensures that children with SEND have their needs individually met and make excellent progress. Staff adapt the environment and their practice extremely effectively. This ensures every child can reach their potential.
• Parents are extremely happy with the care their children receive and the excellent progress they make. Staff expertly share children's achievements and next steps. Leaders and managers work extremely hard to build on their partnerships with parents even further. They constantly look for new ways to share children's learning and their setting's ethos with parents. Parents attend online meetings and are invited into the nursery. This helps them gain a deeper understanding of how their children learn and they obtain very useful information on how to help prepare their children for their move on to school.