Our Pride Our Joy at Anker Valley Nursery and Care Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive and flourish at this well-equipped and inviting nursery. Staff plan and provide activities which ignite children's curiosity and thirst for learning. Children eagerly leave their parents to enter and go into the nursery to start to play and learn with their friends. They talk excitedly about the fairy door in their room and write and draw pictures to the fairies and 'Jack Frost.' Artwork by the children and letters to fairies are displayed on the wall for the fairies. Children point and talk about the trail of 'fairy dust' which can be seen coming from the fairy door.

Staff provide lots of opportunities for children to be independent. Children can choose whether they play outdoors or indoors throughout the session. They fetch and put on their coats. Once finished, children find their pegs and hang their coats up again. Children freely access the snack table, pouring their own drinks and choosing which fruit or healthy snack they would like. Early mathematical concepts are introduced as children make a tally of which snack they have chosen, and these are added up to find which was most popular. Staff are positive role models. They are kind, and nurturing and build strong relationships with the children. This makes children feel safe and secure. Children say they are happy at nursery, and that they enjoy playing and exploring.

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

• The manager, and her staff are well-qualified and work together cohesively as a team. Highly effective systems ensure that professional development is given high priority. Effective monitoring systems and evaluation of the nursery ensures that the quality of teaching is consistently good.
• The staff plan and deliver a child-led curriculum. It follows all seven areas of learning in the early years foundation stage, but it explicitly follows the choice of the child. Staff know their key children extremely well. They follow children's interests and provide activities which children want to do. Children sustain high levels of engagement at their chosen activities. Consequently, all children are making good progress in their learning.
• A strong focus is placed on communication and language skills. Staff introduce new words, such as stretchy as they pull the play dough to show what they mean. Children are confident and discuss their ideas and thoughts with staff. However, at times, those children who are more quiet and have less confidence are not always encouraged to speak up. Consequently, they do not always join in with conversations that are taking place.
• Children develop a deep love for literacy. They vote on the book they want for story of the day. Children visit the school library to choose reading books to take home to read. As part of the focus on early writing skills, children are writing their own book, collectively together. Staff support children by writing down their ideas. Children then illustrate the book with their pictures. This gives children a sense of pride and achievement and helps to build self-esteem.
• Overall, children behave well. They learn to take turns and share. Outdoors, an egg timer is used to help children self-regulate and manage the time spent on tricycles. The children understand the system and allow other children who are waiting, a turn when the timer runs out. That said, children who find it difficult to self-regulate and manage their emotions when playing alongside their peers are not always given consistent messages as to why they can not do something to help them learn the consequences of their actions.
• Accurate assessments and observations by staff mean that children who may have possible special educational needs are identified early. Swift action is taken to provide targeted support for both the children and their parents. This helps children make the best possible progress.
• Parents are extremely complimentary about the nursery. They praise staff for their supportive approach and say that they are kind and caring. Information about children is shared via an online application. Parents are welcomed into the setting for a variety of celebrations. This helps to strengthen partnerships with parents and carers.
• Children enjoy learning about the world around them. They hatched chicks from eggs and now care for the grown chickens, along with other nursery and school animals. The children receive invites to join school assemblies and eat their lunch with the school children in the dining hall. This helps them learn about different routines and supports their transition through to school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider more ways to invite and engage children who have less confidence to help them share their thoughts and ideas more freely
• support staff to continue to embed the curriculum to support children to manage their emotions and engage fully in activities alongside their peers.