Oak House Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children receive the highest levels of care and support from a skilled and dedicated staff team. Children are happy and secure as they form strong attachments to their key person. Staff tailor the stimulating and engaging curriculum around children's individual needs, and as a result, all children thrive and make exceptional progress in their learning and development. They show excitement and curiosity, as they confidently explore the broad range of activities and experiences available to them. For example, in the forest school area, older children delight in using their senses and observational skills when searching for patterns and minibeasts. On discovering a snail trail a child exclaims, 'this might be a clue, the trail might lead us to other creatures'. The group remain enthralled and fascinated in the awe and wonder by the natural world as they continue their search.

The calm and well-organised environment draws children in and encourages them to actively engage in their learning. Children learn from an early age to be independent as they are fully encouraged to make choices and are given time to explore and practise key skills. For example, when engaging in sensory play, babies smile and gurgle as they select and explore different brushes. Responsive staff engage babies in purposeful play to develop their physical skills and support their communication development. They say and repeat words clearly to develop early vocabulary, model actions such as hair brushing that the babies copy and spontaneously include games and songs to further enhance their enjoyment. Excellent foundations are laid to ensure each child's future success.

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

• Leaders and managers are passionate about their work. They are highly effective in implementing an ambitious curriculum throughout the nursery, where all children are supported and challenged to achieve the best outcomes. Managers work tirelessly to build a staff team that shares this vision. Individual skills are valued and nurtured, and robust performance management systems ensure that ongoing training and development are a priority. Staff training is specifically focused on the developmental needs of children. For example, staff have been involved in a range of initiatives to support children's speech and language skills, such as Elklan and Early Talk. This ensures that staff have high aspirations and each child receives excellent support to become a skilful communicator.
• Children have excellent opportunities to learn about and embed their understanding of good hygiene routines. Older children independently wash their hands at appropriate times and remember to cover their mouths when coughing. Staff regularly plan 'mystery visitor' events, which children enthusiastically recall.
• These included a visit to a local dentist and a talk by the hygienist 'fairy'. Staff skilfully extend children's awareness of the importance of good oral hygiene through meaningful activities, such as role play and storytelling.
• Staff place a strong focus on providing all children with the appropriate challenge to ensure they remain motivated and enthused about their learning. This helps children move on to the next stage in their learning; for older children, this ensures they develop the skills they will need for school. Children learn about technology from an early age, as they explore how to make things work by pressing buttons and switches. In pre-school, children are keen to learn how to use programmable toys. They listen carefully to instructions and persevere in learning how to sequence commands. Children use language accurately to describe movements, such as forwards, backwards, left and right. These stimulating experiences undoubtedly help children to develop important skills for their future lives.
• Staff are excellent role models. They are calm and show genuine respect and interest when engaging in conversation with children. These positive behaviours are reflected in the way children socially interact with one another. All children behave exceptionally well and show kindness and consideration towards their friends. For example, when looking at books, children politely ask if their friend has finished before taking a book. They eagerly invite others to come and join them to read a story together, thereby ensuring everyone feels included in the activity and enhancing the enjoyment for everyone.
• The partnerships with parents and other professionals are exceptionally strong. Parents comment that the care provided is 'fantastic' and that the nursery is regarded as an 'extension of our own family'. Staff work collaboratively with a child's health visitor when completing the progress checks for children aged between two and three years. This means if there are any concerns regarding a child's development or health they are quickly identified and appropriate support is discussed and swiftly implemented. As a result, all children are extremely well supported to reach their full potential.