Oak Tree Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy to attend nursery. They are warmly greeted by the staff team and demonstrate they feel safe and secure. Children settle in quickly and are eager to explore the fun and exciting activities on offer. Babies enjoy cuddles, and staff give reassurance, when needed. Staff respond quickly to babies' individual needs and recognise when they are hungry or tired. The uniqueness of all children is valued. Children understand rules and learn to look after the resources. They are polite and use good manners. Children are regularly praised for their positive interactions and are encouraged to think about behavioural expectations in the nursery.

Staff know the children extremely well. They confidently talk about their interests and progress in detail. They observe children during play and plan what they need to learn next. Children are encouraged to make choices, explore and experiment in their play. They are given opportunities to increase their independence and to develop a positive attitude to learning. For example, young children show good concentration as they match farm animals and learn the noises they make. Older children build sandcastles with moats. They work together and learn to problem solve when the castle collapses. Staff watch and skilfully engage by asking questions and supporting children to extend their imagination skills further.

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

• Staff gather relevant information from parents when children start at the nursery. They use this, alongside their own observations, to plan activities to build on children's existing knowledge and skills. Assessments are used well to help address any possible gaps in children's learning. All children make good progress from their starting points. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• The manager has high expectations for all children and strives to ensure the nursery provides high-quality learning. She supervises staff and has identified strengths and areas for improvement. The manager acknowledges that due to COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and to key staff leaving, monitoring of staff practice, including managing their workloads, has not continued as planned.
• Overall, partnerships with parents are good. Parents state that their children are happy, settle well and build strong relationships with the staff. They enjoy attending nursery and make good progress. The nursery is inclusive and supports individual children's needs well. Regular updates on children's progress are shared with parents, including ideas for home learning. However, this is inconsistent across the nursery, and parents say that more-detailed communication would be beneficial.
• Staff support children to increase their understanding of living a healthy lifestyle.
• They try new foods and understand the importance of eating fruit and vegetables. Older children squeeze oranges in the juicer to taste, and they discuss drinking juice with no added sugar. Children access the water station for drinks in the garden. They tell their friends that it is important to stay hydrated.
• Staff place a high priority on children's communication and language skills. They introduce new vocabulary and model language. Staff ask questions, engage in conversations and enthusiastically share stories and sing rhymes. Staff support children who speak English as an additional language effectively to participate fully and to enjoy their time at the nursery.
• Staff skilfully promote mathematical language and concepts into daily practice. They ask questions to increase children's knowledge and to challenge children's skills. Young children join in with number songs and count with adults as they press buttons on pop-up toys. Toddlers learn the concept of time as they wait to start races and name colours. Older children learn concepts of 'whole' and 'half' as they cut oranges. They demonstrate 'full' and 'empty' as they fill different containers and use positional language when they use the swings.
• Children benefit from fresh air and exercise in the nursery's well-planned garden. Young children increase their balance as they race around the track on bicycles and learn to walk on stilts. Older children learn to use the swings independently and to enjoy the challenge as they master climbing the rope ladder. Children extend their knowledge about the natural environment as they collect apples and stones and discuss the different features.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• monitor staff practice with greater precision and support them to manage their workload effectively
• strengthen partnerships with parents to ensure detailed feedback and ideas for home learning are consistent across the nursery.