Nina's Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff are nurturing and caring in this nursery. They are deployed effectively and children are always well supervised. Leaders have a good oversight of the nursery and spend time in each room supporting staff. This helps ensure that children's needs are well met. Staff support children during their play and while they are participating in activities. Children get daily fresh air and exercise in the outdoor space. They move their bodies in different ways. This helps to build their small and large muscles. Staff plan learning experiences that capture the interests of children. For example, children delight in putting on their wet weather suits and wellington boots to splash in puddles. They have great fun playing together in the water area, where they practise filling and emptying different containers.

The staff team in this nursery has gone through some changes. The team have developed strong bonds and more experienced staff are supporting newer staff effectively. This ensures that children continue to thrive in this nursery. Staff support children to learn how to identify different emotions. They also help children to understand how they can self-regulate. Children can go to designated calm areas to relax and focus on their breathing if they get overwhelmed. Therefore, children are starting to learn how their behaviour impacts others.

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

• Leaders have a clear curriculum in place. They have carefully considered what they want children to learn before they move on to their next stage in learning. Leaders share the curriculum intent with staff. This helps staff to inform their planning for children's learning experiences. However, some staff are not always incorporating children's next steps in learning into their play to help them to consistently build on what they already know and can do. Therefore, occasionally, some children can lose focus for short periods of time.
• Staff support children to develop their communication and language skills. They recognise when children require additional support with their speech development and implement effective strategies to bridge any gaps in learning. For example, staff read stories to children and encourage them to interact and get physically involved, such as by moving their mouth and tongue in different ways to help with the correct pronunciation of sounds. Consequently, all children are making good progress with their communication and language.
• Children eat healthy meals and snacks at the table with their peers. All children have a go at serving and feeding themselves. Children in the pre-school room develop their independence skills as they serve themselves their meals at the serving table and carry their own plates to the table to eat. Staff support children to learn about healthy foods and those foods that should be eaten in moderation. Consequently, children are learning some of the different ways they can keep themselves healthy.
• There is a strong leadership team and the manager is a real asset to the nursery. Leaders carry out regular observations of staff practice to support staff to continuously make improvements. Staff have regular supervision meetings with leaders, where they are set targets and agree training needs. This supports staff with their professional development and helps improve the outcomes for children. Staff feel well supported by the leadership team and feel that their voices are heard. Leaders ensure that staff workload is manageable and prioritise staff well-being.
• There is an area special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) who works across all the nurseries owned by this provider. She supports the nursery SENCo and staff to help them to meet the individual needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children with SEND have tailored plans in place that support them to work towards specific next steps in learning. The area SENCo and nursery SENCo work closely with other professionals and access early help for children. Consequently, children with SEND make the progress they are capable of.
• Parents speak very positively about this setting. They comment on how the nursery has supported their children through the COVID-19 pandemic and how their children are now more than ready for their next stage in learning, including school. Parents feel happy with the level of communication they receive from the nursery about their children's learning experiences and care needs. Parents feel that their children are making good levels of progress with their development as a direct result of attending this nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support all staff to sequence children's learning experiences, including through their play, to continue to help children develop the skills required for their next stage in learning.