Nurture, Grow and Learn Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily enter the warm and inviting nursery, and are welcomed by smiling managers and staff. They know the routines well as they find their pegs, hang up their coats and display eagerness to start their day. Staff continually praise children for their achievements and provide them with lots of encouragement. They have a calming tone and nurturing approach. As a result, all children, particularly babies, develop strong attachments with staff and demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. Older children follow instructions, display great manners and understand the rules and expectations. This results in children playing well with each other, and they show high levels of confidence and self-esteem.

Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and have an eagerness to explore. This is because opportunities are available to them that are strongly focused on children's interests and development. For example, babies kick their legs and raise their heads as they spend time on their tummies. Other children immerse their whole bodies in large sand trays as the explore with their senses. Older children paint on a large board and stretch and move their arms high as they make marks and patterns. This helps to build children's physical development and early literacy skills.

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

• The managers are passionate about their role and responsibilities and have a clear vision that is shared with staff. Managers have an accurate overview of the quality of the nursery and identify what they do well and areas for future development. Effective support is given to staff through supervisions and staff training. This results in continual improvements being made. Children benefit from a high level of care and unique learning experiences.
• Children of all ages are inquisitive and eager to learn more. They explore the environment with confidence, ask questions and are curious about why things happen and how things work. For example, they take an interest in what a weighing scale is used for and the purpose of a tape measure. Yet, occasionally, some staff do not always respond and adapt in the moment to ensure that children remain interested and are consistently challenged.
• Children are thriving in the stimulating environment that has carefully selected resources and meaningful experiences that interest them. The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced. Staff get to know children well and prepare them for their future learning, such as starting school. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those children in receipt of additional funding, are making good progress.
• Overall, staff support communication and language successfully, particularly for children who speak English as an additional language. For instance, staff use visual cues and bilingual books to read. Children sing songs and rhymes and have access to the nursery library. However, at times, staff ask children questions that require a one-word answer. Furthermore, they do not always call children by their correct names. During these times, children are not fully gaining a sense of themselves, hearing the correct sounds in their name, or fully developing their understanding and emerging speech.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents are well informed about children's progress. They feel involved in their children's development and appreciate the support that they have to continue their children's learning at home. Parents feel listened to and say that their views are regularly captured. They answer questionnaires and are provided with a response of any changes made.
• Children take regular trips out in their local community, which provide them with a wide range of experiences. For example, during a recent visit to a local farm, the children were able to watch lambs being born. This helps to support their understanding of animals and gives them a greater knowledge of the world around them.
• Children independently wash their hands to wipe away germs, cut fruit and discuss healthy foods. They take part in weekly yoga sessions. Children have a good understanding of the importance of leading an active and healthy lifestyle.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve staff's skills of how to respond and adapt in the moment so that they provide teaching that consistently builds on children's learning to help them to make even better progress
• strengthen the knowledge of staff, so they can help children to develop their understanding, communication and language skills to the highest level.