Partou Old School House Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children benefit from caring bonds with adults, which are nurtured though warm and loving embraces. As a result, children feel safe and are very content. Children's individual needs are responded to, and met, by attentive and knowledgeable adults. Children demonstrate high levels of enthusiasm and engagement and are very well prepared for their learning. This is particularly so in terms of their mathematical development whereby children confidently solve problems relating to number and shape.

Children display positive behaviour as they aspire to meet the very high expectations that adults have of them. They show care and respect for one another and form strong friendships where being kind to one another is very important. At lunchtime, children take turns to serve food to their friends and encourage one another to try different foods. This creates a nurturing environment in which all children thrive and achieve their very best. In addition, children's social skills, which were seen to be most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, are well supported. Children who need extra help in their learning benefit from a range of exceptional support from adults who are highly sensitive to their needs. Parents feel supported to be involved in their child's learning and are amazed by how much their child has progressed.

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

• The manager and her team are dedicated to ensuring that all children achieve their very best. They share clear intentions on what it is that they want children to learn. This means that children are provided with opportunities to practise and develop skills and knowledge which are essential for them to progress in their learning. For example, babies are provided with space and resources, such as toy prams, vacuum cleaners and brooms, which enable them to develop their physical skills over time.
• The manager has an in-depth understanding of how children develop. She uses this to ensure that all members of her team have the skills necessary to support and extend children's learning. However, there are some gaps in the knowledge required to fully support children's very early literacy skills. This means that children could miss out on key learning that is essential to their future success with reading and writing.
• Staff well-being is a priority at this nursery. All staff feel extremely well supported by the management team. They report on how they feel enabled to pursue their continued professional development. Staff also feel able to approach the management team with any concerns they may have.
• There are robust arrangements in place to support children who may need extra help in their learning. This ensures that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities have their needs identified, and responded to, very early on. Individual support plans are in place for those children that need them. This ensures that all children receive help that is targeted to their specific need and, as a result, are able to achieve their full potential. There are very secure links with outside agencies and professionals, which are used to further enhance the support provided for those children that need it. Parents report that they feel extremely well supported by the setting in relation to meeting their child's additional needs at home.
• Children's mathematical development is expertly promoted by staff. They set up challenging activities that require children to investigate and solve mathematical problems. The use of planned questioning from staff is successful in extending children's learning in this area. Children confidently demonstrate their understanding of complex mathematical concepts, such as those relating to 2D shapes and matching, as they excitedly search through a range of different-shaped objects to establish which are the same. They use number language in their play, enthusiastically calling out the names of the shapes they find, such as a circle, square, rectangle and even a star.
• The setting's very strong links with their local community mean that children are starting to show care and concern for the needs of others. The children took part in a harvest activity whereby they donated items of food to those in need. This helps them to grasp an understanding of sensitive topics relating to people less fortunate. As a result, children show kindness towards one another and cherish their friendships with their peers. This creates a warm family-orientated environment that encourages a strong sense of belonging for all children.
• Mealtimes are a highly social occasion where children hold meaningful conversations and encourage one another to try new foods. Children have access to a range of healthy foods that are prepared by the setting's dedicated cook, who takes time to ensure that food is extremely well presented.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure staff model how to pronounce sounds correctly when teaching phonics activities, so that children learn the knowledge and skills necessary to become successful readers and writers.