Partou Shepherds Lane Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide an extremely calm and interesting environment, where children's curiosity allows them to deeply engage in learning safely. Highly responsive staff nurture and meet children's individual needs. They respond to the non-verbal cues of babies and toddlers who wish to sing and dance. The secure routine helps babies and children to feel confident to learn. Toddlers roll up their sleeves, indicating they wish to do some painting. Older children are very well behaved. They listen to staff and are very caring toward their friends.

Staff follow children's interests and expertly extend their learning. When manipulating dough, babies say, 'It is a pancake'. Staff use new words to extend children's vocabulary. They say words such as 'tap' and 'flat' to give meaning to the actions children make. Staff listen and value children's contributions. As a result, children practise and explore new words, developing the communication skills they need to be lifelong learners. Experienced staff gain children's attention using different, positive tones of voice. Children listen with anticipation, excitedly guessing what might be in the 'tap tap box'. Staff help them to take turns to speak and listen to their friends.

Staff note what sparks children's interests and use this knowledge instinctively. They add props to help children have first-hand experiences of their natural world. When children discover spiders hiding in a tyre, they provide magnifying glasses for children to examine the creatures further. Staff ask children 'thinking questions' about how they might use a range of resources, such as how they can use a particular shaped block in their building. This helps children to work together to solve problems and achieve a common goal. As a result, they have a passion for learning, and their concentration levels dramatically increase.

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

• The manager superbly inspires the staff team to provide a highly ambitious curriculum for children. Staff are committed and feel valued for the work they do. As a team, they have worked exceedingly hard since the last inspection. They build on their own knowledge and implement this in a purposeful way. The manager is constantly reflecting on how precisely focused future improvements will benefit children.
• All staff have an extensive understanding of the curriculum. It is evident in their practice that they understand the important role they play in fostering children's learning. Staff know their key children extremely well, and there is a sharp focus on what children need to learn next. Each experience is purposefully planned for children. This means children are making the best possible progress from their individual starting points of development.
• Staff, together with parents, develop clear plans to expertly support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff identify children's emerging needs rapidly and take swift action to help ensure these children are accessing services as early as possible. Parents report that staff sensitively help them to understand the package of support that will further support their children to make the best possible progress.
• Staff expertly help children to understand elements of risk. They explain clearly to children how to make risk assessments in the garden and check for things that might 'hurt their friends'. Children learn the meaning of words such as safe and unsafe, and they understand in a practical way how to care for themselves and their peers.
• Staff are embedding a sense of community with the children as they provide them with a rich set of experiences. For example, they collect food and walk to the local food bank to deliver the items.
• There is a strong emphasis on partnership with families. Parents are exceptionally happy with the nursery. They receive an invaluable amount of information about their child and feel that staff genuinely care for their children. Furthermore, parents report that staff support the entire family and help them to understand more about how to build on their children's development at home.
• Staff promote a sense of belonging. They point to each child around the table and say their name as they speak to them. Staff use the word 'together' to help babies and children understand early turn taking.
• Children develop a strong love of reading. Staff read to babies with expression, and babies eagerly bring more books for the staff to read to them. Older children spontaneously share books, talking to each other about the pictures and what will happen next. Staff know when to interject to challenge and extend children's thinking.