Nesbit Nippers

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff warmly greet children as they arrive to begin their session. Children happily skip through the gates, separating easily from parents and carers. Children hang up their bags and put away their water bottles before settling quickly at an activity. There is a clear, ambitious and broad curriculum plan in place for all children. Staff work continuously to look at how they can improve and enhance the learning environment to provide children with a wide range of creative and purposeful opportunities. For example, following children's interest in water and sensory play, they have built a water wall. Children spend sustained amounts of time working together to pump water into jugs and watch it flow in different ways down the path, depending on where they pour from.

The behaviour of children is good. Children develop positive relationship with others and happily jump up and down with excitement when one of their friends arrive. Older children play cooperatively together, sharing ideas and past experiences to guide their imaginative play. Staff support younger children to develop their sharing and turn-taking skills.

The support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is excellent. Staff ensure that they work together with parents and other agencies involved in children's care and learning to provide consistent strategies to support all areas of their development.

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

• The provider failed to notify Ofsted of a significant event, relating to the change of committee members, which is a breach of their registration. However, the provider acknowledges this and there is no impact on children. The provider has taken steps to rectify this.
• Staff know their children well. Staff talk proudly of the progress all children have made from their starting points and their focus for their continued learning and development. All children are well prepared for the next stage of their learning.
• Staff skilfully use the interests of children to provide unique and exciting learning opportunities covering multiple areas of learning. Taking children's current interest in dinosaurs, staff have frozen mini dinosaurs in egg shaped ice blocks. Children excitedly greet the arrival of the eggs with squeals of joy. Children discuss the names of the different dinosaurs and their features. They work together to discover which tools are best to break through the ice. They continue to persevere even though as first it seems the ice will not break, developing resilience and effective problem-solving skills.
• Overall, the curriculum for communication and language is well supported. There are lots of opportunities to introduce language and provide a narrative to children's play, especially for younger children and those who speak English as an additional language. However, there are occasions when staff ask questions of older children, where they do not allow them sufficient time to recall and respond before they ask another question or answer it themselves.
• Staff make excellent use of their outside area to provide children with opportunities to learn about nature and the process of growing. Children go on regular bug hunts and share with delight that they have found a mummy and baby snail. Children grow a variety of fruits and vegetables, including peppers, strawberries, cucumbers and tomatoes. They carefully look after them over the summer term, confidently sharing with others that they need water and sun to grow. They will then pick them to share with families at the end of term picnic.
• Staff support children to understand how to keep themselves healthy. They are reminded to cover their mouths when coughing and the importance of washing their hands before eating and after using the toilet. After lunch, toothbrushes are brought out and following on from a previous visit from a dentist, staff discuss with children why good oral hygiene is important.
• Partnership with parents is good. Parents describe the setting and its staff team as caring and compassionate. Staff communicate with parents in various ways, including via text, verbal feedback, termly newsletters, a learning app and a closed social media account. Parents comment that this communication helps them to always feel up to date about what is happening within the setting as well as understanding children's individual progress and next steps.
• Leaders are reflective and seek regular feedback from parents. Staff feel well supported and have regular training opportunities to continue to develop their knowledge and bring new ideas to the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enable children time to reflect on simple questions, recall information and use their developing language skills to find answers.