Nursery Rhymes Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery's motto to 'Provide a happy, safe and stimulating environment, in order for each child to reach their full potential' is what makes this nursery so special. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some routines at the nursery are slightly different. Children wave their parents off at the front door and greet staff with cuddles. They cannot contain their excitement to play with their friends and show high levels of self-confidence. As you enter each room of this vibrant nursery, children are engaged in learning and the atmosphere buzzes with their excitement. Babies enjoy exploring paint and beam with delight while playing with musical instruments. Toddlers explore petals on flowers and are keen to let the inspector smell these. They talk about planting their own vegetables. Pre-school children excitedly write their own stories and make 'special maps' to find treasure outdoors.

Children talk about visiting the dentist and how it is important to brush your teeth. Staff provide excellent experiences for children to be physically active. Children relish opportunities to climb, jump and balance on apparatus outdoors. They search for bugs and become enthralled while playing ring games. Children show positive attitudes towards their learning and are well prepared for their next stage in learning, including moving on to school.

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

• Leaders want every child to achieve the very best in a home-from-home environment. They strive to be outstanding. Self-evaluation is accurate and includes the views of parents, staff and children.
• Overall, children receive a curriculum that builds on what they know and can do. However, some staff working with babies are not always clear what leaders intend babies to learn. This means that some activities are not pitched at the correct level. For example, some staff teach babies the names of shapes and use words that are too advanced for babies to understand.
• Leaders support staff well-being effectively. Staff report that working at the nursery 'is the best'. Staff receive good levels of support during supervision sessions and appraisal meetings. They attend a variety of training programmes and keep up to date with changes in policy and legislation.
• In the main, staff promote children's communication and language skills well. Children engage in conversations with their friends and with staff. However, staff do not always understand how to extend children's speaking skills to a higher level and sometimes do not use the correct vocabulary. This means that children do not always make the best progress in their speaking skills.
• The support in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is excellent. Leaders work closely with external professionals and ensure barriers to learning are removed. Gaps in learning quickly close and children with SEND make good progress.
• Care practices are good. Staff teach children about the importance of healthy living. Children talk about washing germs off their hands and about keeping hydrated. Children show good levels of growing independence. For example, they tidy toys away, pour their own drinks and put their own shoes on.
• Parental partnerships are strong. Parents commend staff on their caring nature and state that 'The nursery is amazing'. Leaders hold regular meetings with parents and share learning and care information. Links with schools and the local authority are robust.
• Children are well-rounded, resilient and confident individuals who are keen to take on new challenges. They show care towards their friends, behave well and develop a secure sense of what is right and what is wrong.
• Staff foster children's love of reading. For example, they read to children with excitement and animation. This helps to capture children's interest and keeps them motivated to learn. Children talk about their favourite characters and predict what might happen next in the story.
• Leaders use additional funding well. They take children on trips to places that they usually would not go, such as the farm. These opportunities help children to further understand the world around them. However, leaders identify that they would like children to learn more about differences and similarities beyond their own experiences.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff who work with babies to better understand what leaders intend younger children to learn
• help staff to better understand how to strengthen children's speaking skills and use the correct vocabulary
• support children to further understand differences and similarities beyond their own experiences.