Nurture Nursery & Pre School Mount Hawke

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are curious, eager to learn and enjoy the activities staff organise for them. Staff build warm relationships with children, knowing this helps their learning and development. Children feel safe and secure. Staff create a broad curriculum and understand what they need to do to help children to thrive. They know each child well and guide them to progress from their starting points. Children are well prepared for the next stage of learning.

Staff support babies to develop their core strength. Babies learn to sit and reach for toys, further developing their physical skills. Staff notice when babies are strong enough to stand. They create an environment where babies can pull themselves up, helping them develop balance and strength. Children of all ages are supported to spend time playing outdoors in the fresh air. Toddlers learn coordination skills as they climb ladders and use the slide to come back down. Staff help toddlers develop social skills, teaching them to share and cooperate. For example, children take turns pouring water between pots in the outdoor 'nature kitchen'.

Staff know that a broad vocabulary is key for communication skills. In the pre-school, they introduce new words each week, such as 'hive', 'honeycomb', 'mandibles' and 'abdomen'. These words relate to a project on bees and honey, inspired by a recent nature walk. Staff help pre-school children reflect on the differences between male and female bees and how bees make honey, building their understanding of nature.

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

• Children of all ages are guided to develop confidence in mathematics. With babies, staff count items, such as the number of plates on the art table. As pre-school children play and manipulate magnetic building blocks, staff support them in learning the names of shapes. When children build a train, staff help them to identify the shapes they see, such as 'triangle' and 'square'. At lunchtimes, pre-school children confidently count up to 15 chairs at the tables.
• There is a strong focus on developing children's literacy skills. Pre-school children recognise their names on their drinks bottles. Babies smile with delight as they listen to staff reading books to them. Pre-school children relax, sitting in a cosy corner, looking at books or listening to staff read to them, indoors and outdoors. Staff understand that books help children grasp experiences different to their own. Staff support toddlers and pre-school children in extending their learning and love of books into their homes through a successful lending library.
• Staff understand the importance of building children's communication skills. Staff engage toddlers in conversations during activities. However, during pre-school group times, children occasionally sit for long periods. Staff do not always give children opportunities to answer questions or take part in group discussions, exploring their ideas and interests further. As a result, at times, some children become restless and lose focus.
• Staff encourage children to take part in creative activities. Babies are supported to use paint, developing their experience of textures and learning how to make marks with paintbrushes to help build their hand strength. Toddlers are supported to create 'worm' paintings by using spaghetti and brown paint. However, in the pre-school, learning experiences aimed at developing children's creativity are not always well implemented. For example, staff direct children's art activities and do not encourage them to use their own designs or ideas. When this happens, children are not developing their self-expression and some become disengaged and lose interest.
• Staff report feeling valued in their roles and work well together. They regularly undertake training to stay up to date with recent developments and extend their practice by reflecting on regular feedback from other staff. As a result of their training, staff implement new strategies to improve their practice and help ensure children receive good-quality care and education. For example, having completed a children's mental health course, staff have extended the support for children's mental and emotional well-being.
• Children are guided by staff to understand how their behaviour affects others. Older children are kind and considerate, easily sharing toys and taking turns. Children listen and respond to instructions. For example, they quickly tidy away toys when asked. At mealtimes, pre-school children show high levels of patience as they wait until everyone has a plate of food before they start eating.
• Staff ensure parents are kept up to date with children's progress. When staff identify children who need additional guidance, they work together with parents to provide children with enhanced support.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the organisation of pre-school group activities to encourage children to explore their ideas and interests even further
• enhance opportunities for pre-school children to develop their self-expression skills and be actively engaged in creative activities even more.