NEST Nurseries

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle happily in this organised and stimulating nursery. Staff carry out home visits before children start at the nursery and build good relationships with them. They display pictures of children's families and sing greeting songs during morning group times. This helps children to feel valued and welcome. Staff have high expectations of children and manage their behaviour in positive ways. Children behave well.

The curriculum is well thought out and strongly linked to the areas of learning and children's interests. Staff provide problem-solving tasks, such as how to extract juice from an orange, to develop children's thinking skills well. Children are highly motivated, and all children make good progress. Staff support children's mathematical skills well. For example, they use real wheels to teach children about circles and teach them other shape names. Staff teach children about numbers through counting songs and rhymes and count objects with children as they play. They teach children mathematical vocabulary, such as more or less and tall and short.

Staff support children's creative development effectively. They encourage children to enjoy making three-dimensional models from scented play dough using different tools. Children explore colours and textures as they mix paint and cornflour in a tray. They gain good creative skills.

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

• Children develop a good understanding of the world. Staff go on walks with children outdoors to discover different types of minibeasts. They plant strawberries and pumpkin seeds with children and teach them how things grow. Staff teach children early science, for instance about forces such as pulling and pushing.
• Children learn to do things for themselves. They fetch their own plates and cups and serve themselves from communal bowls at mealtimes. Children put on their coats and shoes, and staff support younger ones to learn these skills. Children learn to share and take turns well. They share tools and resources during group activities.
• Staff have very strong partnerships with parents and carers. They provide highly effective ways for parents to support their children's learning. For instance, staff invite parents and children to a birdwatching walk to support children's understanding of the world. They encourage parents to borrow books to read with their children at home. Staff use flexible and effective ways to provide parents with regular updates on children's progress and activities. Parents describe staff as kind and caring.
• Leaders monitor and support staff effectively. They spend time in the nursery to observe staff and set goals for improvement. Leaders supervise and support staff regularly. They provide good development opportunities to staff. For instance, staff attend a range of courses, including a course on supporting the development of two-year-old children. This helps to keep their knowledge and skills up to date and helps to enhance further the overall quality of learning experiences children receive.
• Leaders evaluate all areas of the nursery and set suitable goals to build ongoing improvements. For example, they plan to continue to enhance children's personal and social development and thinking skills.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. They create individual plans and monitor children regularly. Staff organise well-targeted activities that support children's learning well.
• Children take delight in the spacious and well-designed outdoor area. Staff support them to practise a broad range of skills, such as balancing on tyres and planks. Children enjoy climbing over a humpback bridge. They thread ribbon through metal hoops to develop good small-muscle control. Children gain very good physical skills.
• Staff maintain good levels of safety for children. They check all areas, indoors and outdoors, to reduce the risk of hazards. Leaders ensure that new staff go through a comprehensive recruitment procedure to keep children safe. Generally, children behave in safe ways.
• Overall, children gain good communication, language and literacy skills. Staff provide opportunities during whole-group sessions for children to talk about things they bring in from home. Staff read stories to children, who make spontaneous remarks. However, at times, staff do not fully consider ways to enhance children's listening skills during free-play sessions.
• Overall, staff organise small-group activities for children well. However, on occasion, staff do not always consider if resources are appropriate for children's age and stage of development. For example, during a juice extraction activity linked to early science, some children found the equipment too difficult to operate.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review arrangements of the environment to consistently enhance children's listening skills, including in relation to noise levels
• enhance staff's understanding of the use of resources to ensure that equipment is appropriate for children's use.