Partou Kids Corner Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff have created a safe place for children to flourish and thrive. They provide children with a curriculum that builds on what they already know and can do. For example, younger children show a fascination in living things. Children beam with delight while taking part in a bug hunt. They search under trees and soil until they find insects. Staff support children in gaining a good awareness of how to look after wildlife. They are excellent role models. Staff provide children with clear expectations for their behaviour and teach them about kindness. Children are courteous and polite. They form strong friendships and they behave well.

Children's laughter is truly infectious across this vibrant setting. The outdoor area is a hub of excitement and adventure. Staff encourage children to participate in ring games. They play hide and seek, sing songs and cheer their friends on while completing races. Staff support children to take on new challenges in their play. For example, they encourage children to build assault courses. Children show excellent physical dexterity while using climbing apparatus.

Staff encourage children to be independent from a young age. They teach children how to take care of their personal belongings. Children hang their own coats up and tend to their own physical needs. Children develop the necessary skills in readiness for their eventual move on to school.

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

• Since the last Ofsted inspection, the setting has welcomed support from the local authority. It has been relentless in its pursuit to raise standards and aspirations for children, staff, parents and carers. Self-evaluation is accurate. For example, through reflection, the setting has identified that children needed extra support with managing their own feelings and emotions. Staff training has been highly successful in helping children to understand their own emotions, such as through yoga and other relaxation activities. Children behave remarkably well and form trusting relationships with their friends.
• Overall, the setting has designed a curriculum that is broad and balanced. It has identified the knowledge that children should learn and the order that this should follow. For example, younger children giggle with delight while splashing in water. Toddlers enjoy learning dance routines. Pre-school children complete puzzles and attempt to write their names. Children get off to a flying start in their early education.
• The setting gives staff's well-being high priority. It ensures that their workload is managed well. Staff morale is high and they reported that working at the setting is 'fantastic'. Overall, staff receive the relevant support and guidance during supervision and appraisal meetings. However, the setting has not been consistent in its approach to providing staff with more incisive feedback about their practice, to help to raise the quality of education.
• The setting supports children's love of reading effectively. Children listen with interest while staff read their favourite stories with animation. Staff encourage children to talk about characters and to anticipate what might happen next in the story. Children share books with their friends and they are excited to take books home to share with their families.
• Overall, partnership working is effective. Links with external professionals are robust. However, the setting has not thought about how it can include parents in supporting their children's learning at home. This means that some parents are not always clear on how they can better support their children to make even better progress in their learning at home.
• The setting supports children's personal, social and emotional development incredibly well. Staff spend time getting to know children and their families during the settling-in period. Children are given a bespoke transition into the setting. This supports children's emotional well-being effectively. Children settle quickly and they have a strong sense of belonging.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well. They introduce new vocabulary to children during their play and listen to them with interest. Children develop into confident and competent communicators.
• Staff teach children well about the world that they live in. They talk to children about similarities and differences between themselves and others. For example, children discuss what makes them unique, such as hair and eye colour. Children are well-rounded individuals who develop a good awareness of what life is like in modern Britain.
• The support in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is excellent. Early identification and external support means that these children get the support that they need. Gaps in learning close and children with SEND make good progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine the ways that staff are given feedback about their professional practice, to raise the quality of education
• provide parents with more information on how they can better support their children's learning at home.