New River Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children separate happily from parents and settle with ease. They are excited to dive into the different learning activities on offer. Children are safe and joyful in the welcoming environment. Knowledgeable staff encourage children to participate in working with their peers, taking turns and sharing the resources. Staff use appropriate resources, such as books to support children to learn about emotions. Children enjoy yoga sessions, where they practise mindfulness and learn strategies to self-regulate more effectively.

Children are encouraged by staff to use actions when singing nursery rhymes to help them remember the words. Children are excited to join in with the actions and key words from the nursery rhyme they are singing. Children with special educational needs/and or disabilities (SEND) are supported by their key person to join in. Younger children eagerly wave the colourful ribbons around and sing 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' confidently.

Children explore the mud kitchen and use scoops to pour sand carefully into moulds of different shapes and sizes. They gently tap the sand out of the mould and maintain attention, creating a sandcastle. Members of staff remind children of the rules and routines. This promotes a positive attitude to learning where children behave well.

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

• Staff plan and offer a wide range of activities for children to practise working on improving their physical development skills. Children benefit from partaking in obstacle courses, negotiating space safely, balancing activities and riding bikes with stabilisers. Children thoroughly enjoy using different-sized paintbrushes to develop their fine motor skills. Staff encourage children to engage in finger gym to develop their hand-eye coordination skills. Overall, children make good progress in their physical development.
• The manager supports staff to implement a curriculum that is well balanced and sequenced. Staff know children well and plan activities to support children to make good progress. The knowledgeable staff know their key children well and ensure to plan for the needs of their individual key children. Staff build on what children know and can do to support children's learning to be embedded.
• The manager and special educational needs coordinators (SENCos) work closely with external partners to effectively support staff to provide an individualised curriculum for children with SEND. They also work closely with parents of children with SEND to ensure that children achieve positive outcomes.
• The provider uses additional funding to ensure children have access to resources that enhance their learning experiences. Children benefit from receiving music lessons from a specialist music teacher who supports children to learn to engage in different dance and musical activities.
• Staff are happy with the opportunities they have in attending additional training to develop their practice, knowledge and skills. For example, attending a course about key children has developed their knowledge about how to effectively assess and plan activities to promote good progress. Staff are welcoming of the support they receive from their line managers. They speak positively about the extensive coaching and mentoring they receive from their line manager. Staff also access lots of training provided through the local authority. This is in addition to the training they receive from the manager and SENCos at the nursery.
• Staff have developed good partnerships with parents. Parents, including those whose children speak English as an additional language and those of children with SEND, are extremely happy with the support their children receive. They give examples of how staff have supported children to make good progress with their communication and language development.
• Developing children's understanding of healthy eating and healthy living is a key focus of the curriculum. Staff plan activities and group sessions to support children to develop a good understanding of healthy eating habits. They teach children about the importance of brushing their teeth daily to maintain healthy dental hygiene. During snack and lunchtime, staff hold discussions with children about the different food types that are healthy and unhealthy.
• Children are generally well behaved. They take turns and share resources with support. Staff are beginning to teach new children the routines and expectations. Overall, staff model good behaviour and remind children of the expected behaviour. However, on occasion, not all staff members carry this through.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff understanding of management of good behaviour.