Partou Woodlands Harrogate Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are eager to come and join their friends in this warm, welcoming nursery. They make good progress, supported by dedicated and nurturing staff. The staff, overall, provide children with a stimulating learning environment. Play and learning in the nursery is led by children. The varied curriculum focuses on their interests, next steps and experiences from home. Children settle quickly and soon form strong bonds with staff and other children. They behave very well. With clear guidance from patient staff, they learn to understand and manage their emotions.

Children learn about their community and the world around them. For example, they find out about food when they help the nursery chef to grow herbs and vegetables. They see how he uses them when he cooks their healthy, nutritious meals. They also enjoy making their own bread. Children learn sign language and Spanish. By the time they reach pre-school, they have excellent communication skills and a broad vocabulary. Children enjoy sports activities. They develop their physical skills while learning to listen, follow instructions and work together.

Children develop their independence from an early age and are fully prepared for the eventual move on to school. They learn good personal care routines and begin to understand why these are important to minimise the spread of germs.

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

• The management team works extremely hard to drive improvements in this nursery. Managers are passionate and ambitious. This is reflected in the enthusiasm of their staff team. Together, they have created a culture of teamwork and support that values each member of staff and promotes a strong culture of continual improvement. Managers recognise the strengths of their staff team and are aware of the areas for improvement in their practice. Through focused monitoring and training, they are supporting staff to raise the standard of education further.
• All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points. Parents are fully involved in their children's learning journey from the outset. Staff find out what children are learning at home and share a wealth of information to keep parents updated with their children's progress. When gaps are identified in children's progress, staff are quick to seek the support of other professionals. This shared approach ensures that children soon catch up.
• Children enjoy yoga sessions, where they build on their balance and coordination. Staff make sure the room is quiet, and calming music plays to help children relax. Staff encourage children to think about their breathing and how their muscles stretch. They offer praise and encouragement, which promotes children's self-esteem and confidence to try new skills, such as balancing on one leg. Staff skilfully use the opportunity to introduce other aspects of learning. For example, while children do their 'camel' pose, they consider what camels keep in their hump and that they have two sets of eyelashes to prevent sand going in their eyes.
• Staff's interactions with children are good. They know children's interests and favourite activities. For example, children enjoy role play with the toy kitchen. Staff introduce new words, such as 'courgette' and 'broccoli'. This helps to extend children's vocabulary. Staff promote early mathematics, such as helping children to decide which vegetables are heavy or light. On occasions, staff are not perceptive to children's curiosity during their play and do not help them make connections in their learning. For instance, when children feel the textures of the fruit and vegetables staff do not explore this further with them. They also do not fully consider how this play might link to the story children have been reading, 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea'.
• Children play in the garden every day. Staff plan some activities for children here. However, these are not well thought out, and staff do not provide a good range of resources that interest children and motivate them to explore. Consequently, children do not benefit from the same rich learning experiences as they do in their rooms, and some children wander around with little focus for their play.
• Parents share a wealth of positive experiences that clearly depict the dedication, enthusiasm and care provided by the staff team. They talk about the bonds children have with their key persons. They explain that communication is excellent, and they have many opportunities to come in and work with their children. For example, parents and grandparents come into the nursery to read and sing with them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider how play and learning in the outdoor environment can be planned more effectively, taking into account children's interests so that they are engaged and motivated to explore and build on what they already know and can do
• support staff to be more perceptive to children's curiosity and emerging lines of enquiry during their play and how these can captured to enhance children's knowledge and help them make connections in their learning.