Park Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate high levels of energy and excitement as they enter this safe and nurturing nursery. They have excellent emotional attachments with staff and flourish in their care. Children are extremely motivated and eager to engage in the wide range of stimulating learning experiences staff provide. For example, young children select their favourite books and cuddle up with staff to read stories. They are highly imaginative and look for props to retell the story in their own words.

Staff nurture children's enthusiasm for exploring and investigating and consistently encourage them to problem-solve and test out their ideas. For instance, babies squeal with excitement as they run balls down tubes. With support from their older peers, they delight in catching them at the other end using different objects. Toddlers collect natural resources from around the garden and experiment with water flow. Pre-school children delight in science experiments and discover what happens when they make marks with frozen paint. Children's behaviour and social skills are outstanding. Staff celebrate, reward and share children's kindness and good behaviour, which promotes children's emotional security even further.

Staff work exceptionally well with parents and other professionals to ensure first-rate early intervention. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, make outstanding progress from their starting points.

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

• Staff plan an inspiring curriculum which is informed by their meticulous observations and assessments. They use a wealth of inventive ways to expand and reinforce children's knowledge. For example, when toddlers excitedly spot birds in a tree, they offer them binoculars and motivate them to explore what they see. They are extremely responsive to children and seize the moment to extend their sentences.
• The management team strive for excellence and oversee the running of the nursery exceptionally well. All staff undertake targeted training which has a direct impact on the quality of their teaching. From this, they have introduced even further strategies to support children's understanding of the importance of exercise. Staff praise the excellent coaching and support they receive.
• Staff plan outstanding first-hand experiences to help children learn about their local community. For instance, children visit the local care home and delight in sharing resources and activities with the elderly. They visit the library and take exciting trips to the nearby town. Staff involve them in all aspects of their exciting adventures, and support them to think about and plan their journey. This helps to ignite children's interest in the wider world.
• Staff have extremely strong partnerships with parents. Parents comment that the care and learning their children receive is phenomenal. They value the excellent initiatives, such as home visits and learning resources available for children to take home, which they say further complements the outstanding progress their children are making.
• Children consistently demonstrate that they can accomplish tasks independently. Young children sweep up after messy play and help staff set up the tables ready for lunch. Older children help themselves to water throughout the day and demonstrate a remarkable ability to problem-solve and negotiate ideas for play.
• Children develop remarkable language and literacy skills for their young age. For instance, babies delight in listening to staff play the guitar and excitedly select nursery rhymes using resources, such as books and props. Pre-school children show passion and expression as they enthusiastically act out their favourite stories in the garden. Toddlers thrive on challenges set by staff, and confidently use positional language as they hunt for Easter eggs in the garden.
• Staff support children's physical development exceptionally well. Younger children thrive and build on their core strength, as they carefully make their way over climbing walls. Toddlers enthusiastically dig in the garden and tell their friends that they are strong because they ate all their vegetables at lunchtime. Staff build on safety lessons during a forest school session. Children become skilled and confident in their abilities.
• Children support each other when challenges arise and are able to resolve small disputes positively. For example, when they are unable to fit into their carefully built construction, they work together to plan how many shapes they need to make it bigger.