New Hall Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Babies and toddlers are happy, settle easily and enjoy their time at nursery. A gradual settling-in process helps even the youngest children to quickly gain confidence in the new environment and leave their parents with ease. Babies and toddlers form secure relationships with their key person and the other staff. This helps them to explore the room and activities, safe in the knowledge a supportive adult is close by. Babies and toddlers are confident communicators and are taught simple sign language by staff. Babies confidently sign 'please', while toddlers use their more developed skills to request 'more' and say, 'thank you'.

Babies enjoy playing with scented play dough. They make 'cookies' and proudly present them to their key person, who helps them to extend their play. For example, staff demonstrate how to use rollers with raised patterns to create detail on their dough and put their 'cookies' into the toy oven. This helps to develop babies' early imaginative play. Toddlers enjoy singing songs and eagerly gather on the rug for circle time. They wait for their turn to choose a song spoon from the box. Toddlers and staff join in together to sing the chosen song.

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

• Staff understand the importance of ensuring that children experience a language-rich environment. They constantly narrate children's play and praise them for their achievements. However, at times, particularly in the Sycamore toddler room, their enthusiasm results in them talking loudly or asking children too many questions without opportunities to respond.
• Children enjoy a good balance of adult-led activities and those they choose for themselves. Babies and toddlers have daily opportunities to engage in messy play, including sand and water. Toddlers carefully dip cut fruit and vegetables into paint to create prints and patterns. Babies explore paint textures and sound as they paint onto tin foil. However, sometimes, staff forget to provide them with suitable-sized resources, such as paint brushes, to allow babies to be fully independent.
• Babies and toddlers enjoy healthy, balanced meals and snacks. Staff follow good procedures to ensure that children with an intolerance or dietary requirement are catered for. Babies and toddlers learn to develop good table manners, appropriate to their age and stage of development.
• The manager ensures that staff's welfare and well-being is high on her list of priorities. Regular supervision, lots of opportunities for discussions and frequent training helps staff to feel valued, supported and happy in their work. Staff work well as a team, both in their own rooms and across the nursery. This helps to promote consistency in practice for children as they move between rooms.
• There are effective partnerships with other settings that children also attend and a very supportive relationship with New Hall School. Staff are able to tap into the expertise of professionals working onsite, such as speech and language therapists and special educational needs coordinators. This enables staff to promptly seek guidance and help as they notice any gaps in children's learning emerging.
• Staff work closely with parents to provide continuity in children's care routines and their learning. They encourage parents to share information about children's achievements at home and what their current interests are. This helps staff to plan for what children need to learn next, using their interests to engage and motivate them.
• Staff encourage babies and toddlers to develop a love of books from an early age. Story areas are cosy, inviting and provide a relaxing space to listen to favourite tales, snuggled up to staff. Babies are currently enjoying plenty of 'bear hunts'. Staff bring the story to life using different tones of voice. Once spotted, the bear becomes a soft place to lie down and babies close their eyes resting on the bear's rather large tummy.
• Toddlers and babies have many opportunities to explore and be outside. They enjoy trips to the farm and forest school that are onsite, as well as daily play outside in the nursery garden. This helps to support their physical well-being and good health.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build further on staff's good teaching skills to develop their awareness of how they interact and communicate, particularly with the toddlers
• develop the range of resources to enable babies to independently explore and ignite their curiosity, particularly during messy play.