Paradise Found Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in the nursery. Parents drop off and collect from inside the nursery, which gives the children the opportunity to share what they have done in the day, such as their pictures. Parents see the environment where their children are cared for first hand and are reassured about their children's care and learning.

Children form close relationships with staff and friendships with other children. Staff are kind and caring and provide the children with regular praise throughout the day. Children are pleased to receive a sticker for things done well, which boosts their self-esteem. Behaviour is good and any minor issues are quickly resolved, as staff talk to children about their feelings and help them to manage these in a positive way. As a result, children are beginning to think about how their actions have consequences and may make others feel. Young children's emotional needs are well-supported as staff quickly respond to any distress and provide them with comfort and reassurance.

The curriculum focuses on the range of learning that all children will need to acquire to make the best possible progress in the future. Staff teach children through different topics that take account of their interests. Children learn new words as they identify animals at the farm, in the zoo and in other environments. They build their muscle strength as they stand on one leg 'like a flamingo'.

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

• Managers support the staff team to implement the curriculum through their own planning. They hold a shared understanding of what they want children to learn next in preparation for their next stage of learning and eventual move to school. There is strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Precise assessment helps to draw on external support at an early stage and put in place individual learning to help children make the best progress.
• A programme of continual professional staff development targets training that will provide staff with the wide range of skills they need to support good-quality care and learning. Staff feel supported and acknowledge that their own well-being is taken into account by the management team.
• Children are confident and motivated to learn. They develop a sense of achievement and are pride in what they do. Staff know when to stand back and when to help. This means that children have a chance to try to manage their own independence, such as when putting on and doing up their coats. Older children are independent in their own personal care, while younger children are provided with experiences that help them to become independent from an early age. At mealtimes, children practise their emerging skills as they fill their cups from the larger jug.
• Pre-school children practise phonics during group games. They name the animal in the picture and clap out the sounds, while they count. For example, 'kan-ga-roo' is three claps, 'don-key' is two. However, at times, some parts of group activities do not always match the developmental stage of all the children who are asked to take part. That said, children learn to count and are exploring early mathematics. They build a tower of nine blocks and understand that the five red blocks and four blue blocks make nine in total.
• Younger children enjoy creative activities and sensory play. They learn that books are a source of reference as well as a story. Children make their own lion picture and compare with the picture on cards and in books. They 'stomp' around and 'roar like lions' as staff introduce new language to their learning. Staff encourage children who are more recently walking to move around with care as they play. They build their large and small muscles as they hold spreaders to paste glue to paper, and 'scrunch and tear' paper pieces to stick onto the picture. That said, at times, children do not always have the opportunity to create their own pictures and develop their growing imagination.
• Staff follow the routines of the youngest children in line with parents wishes. The environment supports their physical and emotional development and encourages them to move to join activities. They pull themselves up on furniture to get to standing, crawl to play and explore in the water tray on the floor. Music and singing supports their early verbal skills well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider the organisation of group times so that all children taking part can activity engage throughout the activity
• further support children to take the lead in their own learning and explore more widely using their imagination and developing their own ideas.