Partou Park Wood Day Nursery & Forest School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the setting happy and eager to learn. They are welcomed by warm and friendly staff. Staff share close bonds with the children and help them feel secure. For example, they closely follow babies' routines and care needs. Babies approach their key person for cuddles and reassurance, and staff respond affectionately. The curriculum is ambitious for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. All children have a positive attitude towards their learning and make good progress. Staff liaise closely with outside agencies and implement consistent and effective strategies to support children. The setting uses additional funding to ensure that disadvantaged children have access to all activities and have any additional help that they need.

Staff promote children's behaviour well. They set high expectations for children's behaviour and use praise to motivate children in their play. Staff follow effective strategies that help older children to reflect on their behaviour and understand how their behaviour impacts others. Children are kind, helpful and polite. They build close relationships with staff and develop friendships with other children. Staff focus on children developing their independence. Children take off their coats and shoes and put on their wellington boots for outdoor play. Staff help young children to learn tasks such as washing their faces and wiping their noses.

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

• Staff use their observations and assessments well to plan an ambitious and exciting curriculum that promotes children's curiosity and exploration. Staff provide children with a range of activities that promote their interests and form part of their next steps in development. Children show increasing independence as they follow their own interests during play. Staff ask parents for information about children's weekend experiences, such as day trips or family events, and incorporate this into activities to extend children's interests and learning.
• Overall, children's communication and language skills are supported well. Babies and young children have fun as they join in with action songs and familiar rhymes. Staff introduce new words through conversations and during engaging story time sessions. However, occasionally, staff do not model the correct pronunciation of some words, and the volume of staff's voices does not effectively support children to listen and develop the correct use of English.
• Children have lots of opportunities to have fresh air and exercise and to develop their physical skills. The designated large indoor soft playroom provides ample opportunities for children to develop their gross motor skills. Staff working with babies use this area to continue to support babies' confidence in crawling and climbing. Staff help children progressively develop their physical skills. For example, providing ample opportunities for children to enhance their running, balancing and coordination skills outdoors.
• Children demonstrate that they have a good understanding of the routines of the day. However, the organisation of some routines means that children sometimes spend a long time waiting for daily tasks, such as mealtimes. As a result, some children become restless and are not able to access purposeful learning.
• Children are supported to develop their enjoyment of books and to learn more about the world. For example, young children learn about animals and colours as they handle little books and lift flaps. Older children enthusiastically recall physical actions after listening to the story 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'. They are delighted to go on a pretend bear hunt in the outside area.
• Staff provide play dough and other malleable materials for activities to strengthen children's fine motor skills in preparation for future writing. Children manipulate tools safely and with increasing control at the play dough bench. Staff encourage the children to smell the herbs and make use of the chopped herbs to add to their play dough pizzas. Younger children concentrate for sustained periods when they explore play dough.
• Partnerships with parents are a strength of the nursery. Parents speak highly of the caring staff and the diverse range of learning experiences their children receive. They are extremely appreciative of the care and support they and their children receive. Parents state that their children are happy to attend and have improved their communication skills and confidence since attending.
• Leaders and managers regularly observe staff practice and use supervision to discuss training opportunities. Staff have good opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills through a variety of training opportunities. Staff say that the open-door policy in the nursery means that any concerns they have are dealt with promptly. Staff well-being is promoted, and morale across the nursery is high.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently model the correct pronunciation of words and lower their voice levels to further extend children's communication and language skills
• strengthen the organisation during key routines of the day to reduce waiting times for children and maximise their time spent in purposeful play.