Neston Farm Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show they feel safe and secure in the welcoming and friendly nursery. Babies form strong attachments with staff. Babies confidently explore the environment and approach their special adult for comfort when needed. Toddlers are keen to join in with activities, proudly showing adults what they have achieved. Older children show they have formed friendships with other children and play together cooperatively, such as when they build 'bridges' and 'elevators' for the cars.

Staff have high expectations of children. Babies are encouraged to feed themselves with cutlery and use crockery for their snacks and meals. Toddlers enjoy the responsibility of helping clear the table in readiness for lunch, and confidently pour water into their glasses. Pre-school children serve their lunches and cut up their fruit for snack. The manager has a clear curriculum ethos and knows what skills and knowledge children need to learn as they progress through the nursery and move on to school.

Partnerships with parents are positive. They report they are happy with the progress their children are making and say they contribute their ideas about what they want their children to learn. Parents can attend planned 'stay and play' sessions and family festivals. However, they have to drop off and collect their children at the door. This does not fully support them to be involved in their children's nursery life and learning.

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

• Children's behaviour is very good. Staff place a high emphasis on helping children talk about their feelings. They acknowledge children's emotions and help them manage these appropriately, even with the youngest children. As a result, children play in a calm environment.
• Children have lots of opportunities to be outside in the fresh air and to develop their physical skills. They climb over, under and through equipment, and climb trees supervised, learning to take managed risks. Older children know about the rules they need to follow to keep themselves safe when in the woods. They confidently tell staff they must not 'climb trees higher than an adult' and that they 'must not climb over or under the fence.'
• Leadership and management are good. Staff report that management support them with their well-being and that they feel really valued as part of the team. For example, staff can access therapy sessions and have weekly exercise classes after work.
• Staff attend training and development opportunities and share information with the team during staff meetings. For example, following a trip to Austria, staff have implemented 'original play training' for older children and this has enhanced their understanding of the importance of physical touch while playing imaginatively. However, staff's areas for development do not focus sharply on improving the quality of teaching to a consistently high level.
• The programme for communication and language is strong. Staff provide a narrative for babies and talk to them during routines, such as nappy changing. Children thoroughly enjoy joining in with songs and rhymes and staff engage young children's interests, such as by using 'song spoons' and puppets. Staff encourage older children to consolidate their learning, as they ask them to remember what they have learned. For example, children recall that seeds are needed to grow plants, fruits and vegetables.
• Children have plenty of opportunities to learn about the natural world. They care for the animals, collect eggs from the chickens and tend to and harvest their fruit and vegetables. Children are currently incubating peacock eggs, and staff have taught the children the eggs will hatch into peachicks.
• Staff know the children, including their interests and what they need to learn, well. They provide a broad curriculum that offers children a wide range of experiences. All children, including those who receive funding, make good progress. Those children who have gaps in their development are quickly supported to catch up.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance opportunities for all parents to actively share their children's experiences in nursery
• place a sharper focus on improving the quality of teaching to a consistently high level to enhance children's learning even further.