Overbury Grasshoppers

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at this warm and welcoming nursery happy and eager to begin their play. They form strong relationships with the kind and familiar staff team who greet them with a smile and a cuddle. Older children are independent and take responsibility for their belongings. They hang their coat on their peg and put their personal belongings in their drawer.

Staff plan a broad and sequenced curriculum inspired by children's interests and learning needs. Children of all ages enjoy lots of opportunities to play outside in the nursery garden. They develop strength in their bodies as they balance and climb on apparatus. Babies are becoming confident walkers and toddle around exploring and investigating. Young children pretend to cook in the outdoor kitchen. They carefully add ingredients, such as petals and pasta to their bowl. Staff effectively support children's communication and language skills, engaging them in thoughtful conversations. Children display early mathematical knowledge and announce that their pot is empty. Staff encourage children to engage in experiences in the community. Staff take them to borrow books from the mobile library. They extend children's interest in construction, taking them to watch builders working on the farm estate. Children behave well because they know what staff expect from them. Staff remind babies to use kind hands and young children to share and take turns. Older children confidently repeat and explain the reason for the rules during group activities.

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

• The rural nursery is clean, organised, and equipped with a wide range of high-quality toys and resources, both indoors and outdoors. The enthusiastic staff team work well together, with clear roles and responsibilities to ensure the nursery runs smoothly. Staff are good role models and treat children with kindness and respect. They are eager to develop professionally and attend training based on their personal interests and needs. Staff speak highly of the provider and value the strong support they receive for their well-being.
• Staff regularly assess what children know and can do. They use this information, along with input from parents to plan for children's future learning. However, the next steps staff plan are too broad and not specific enough to help children make even better progress in their learning.
• Children have some opportunities to develop early technology skills. They listen to soothing music on the desktop computer after lunch. Children sit alongside staff to recall past experiences. They use technology to look at photographs on their learning records. However, staff are yet to effectively support children to develop their understanding of the risks associated with technology and how to keep themselves safe when using the internet.
• Staff effectively support children's good health and well-being. They follow strict protocols to ensure dietary requirements are met and mealtimes are a social event which is safe and inclusive. Staff use colour coded plates to identify children with specific food preferences or allergies. Children learn the importance of good hygiene because staff remind them to wash their hands at regular intervals throughout the day.
• Staff teach children about life cycles to help them understand where food comes from. Children know that much of the food they eat at the nursery is grown locally and on the farm and kitchen garden where the nursery is located. They regularly pick vegetables with staff to make soup for lunch and watch workers feed and care for animals, such as piglets and lambs.
• Staffs are attentive and gently attend to children's personal care. They seek children's consent before wiping their nose or changing their nappy. Staff encourage young children to take an active role. They ask them to hold their clean nappy. Staff support young children to sleep peacefully in a comfortable environment. A staff member stays with them to ensure they are safe and well.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff share information about children's time at the nursery through daily discussions, digital messages, and online learning records. They regularly ask parents about children's interests at home and what they would like their children to learn next. However, staff do not consistently keep parents informed about children's next steps in learning at the nursery, to help them to continue these at home. That said, parents are very happy with the quality of care and education children receive at the nursery. They comment on the good progress their children make and staffs' excellent communication.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the planned next steps for children's learning to make them more precise and fully support children to make the best possible progress in their learning. Additionally, share these with parents to create a collaborative approach to children's learning journey
• provide children with more experiences to help them learn how to keep themselves safe when using the internet and digital technology.