Newbold Children's Centre Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff celebrate children's uniqueness at this welcoming and inclusive nursery. They have a good understanding of children's cultural backgrounds. They use this knowledge well as they play with children. For instance, during imaginative play, staff pretend that they are eating food that is familiar to children from home. This helps children to feel valued and included. Staff go to great lengths to communicate with children and families, including those who speak English as an additional language. Some staff speak a range of languages and this helps them to communicate effectively. Where this is not possible, staff learn key words and use translator devices to ensure correct pronunciation is used. This helps staff to get to know children well and contributes to the good progress that all children make.

Children are happy during their time at nursery. Staff use tailored settling-in sessions to help children feel comfortable right from the start. Children learn to be kind and show each other respect. Two-year-old children willingly share resources, such as glitter and rollers, around the play dough table. Pre-school children use a sand timer while playing with bicycles. They wait patiently until it is their turn to have a go.

Children enjoy playing outdoors. They climb up steps onto slides and balance along low-level crates. Staff closely supervise children as they play and teach them how to keep themselves safe. Children become confident in managing their own self-care. For instance, two-year-old children help themselves to tissues to wipe their noses and pre-school children serve their meals and scrape their plates after eating. This helps to prepare children for their move to school.

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

• The provider has failed to notify Ofsted of the appointment of all directors that form part of the nursery's governing body. The provider took immediate action to rectify this when made aware of this. They were able to demonstrate that suitability checks had been completed, including obtaining enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks. This minimises the impact on children's safety.
• Leaders have high expectations for the quality of the nursery. They work alongside staff, providing feedback on their practice, and promote a culture of reflection. Staff comment positively about the support in place for them to develop professionally. Staff have recently accessed behaviour training. They quickly put into practise what they learned. This has impacted positively on both consistency between the staff team and on children's behaviour.
• Leaders use additional funding to provide children with a broad range of experiences. These are chosen for a particular purpose. For example, leaders recently held a session where a range of animals and insects came into nursery for children to handle and explore safely. Leaders reviewed the impact. They explain that this helped children to learn new vocabulary and built on their confidence in new situations.
• There is a curriculum in place that is understood and implemented by staff. Staff know children well and recognise their interests and individual learning styles. However, staff do not consistently use this knowledge when planning for children's next steps in learning. For example, they do not fully consider how plans can be adapted for those children who prefer to play outdoors.
• Staff join in children's play and their interactions support children's learning. For example, staff working with one-year-old children explore water play together. They slowly pour the water into the tray. Children say 'wow' as they watch the water trickle down. They giggle as it touches their hands and gesture for staff to do it again. This helps children's levels of engagement as they become engrossed and fascinated.
• Staff provide small-group sessions for children that focus on their learning. For example, in pre-school, story sessions are carried out in smaller groups. Children fully engage as they use props to bring stories to life. They join in with familiar parts of the story and fully engage. This is not always the case for larger group sessions. In some instances, large-group sessions are not adapted to meet the developmental needs of all children. Some children lose interest and do not always benefit fully from what is being taught.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Staff use accurate assessments to help identify any gaps in children's learning. They liaise well with parents and external agencies, when required, and implement targeted learning plans. Staff adapt their teaching to meet children's individual needs. For example, they model simple and clear language and use visual aids with children with limited language skills. Children use visual aids to make choices, such as at snack time. This helps to ensure that children can communicate their needs and begin to understand the language being used.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to fully consider the unique learning styles and interests of all children when planning for their next steps in learning
• support staff to plan and adapt large-group sessions more effectively to promote children's learning even further.