Pennington Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery prioritises building positive relationships. The babies cuddle with the adults and watch wide-eyed as the adults talk to them. The older children chat to the staff about their experiences, share snacks and play cooperatively. Children at this nursery are happy and settled. They enjoy playing with their friends. Children take their lead from the staff and demonstrate good manners, high levels of concentration and positive attitudes to learning.

Leaders have thoughtfully planned and arranged the new building to ensure that children have a clean, safe and stimulating environment in which they can thrive. Staff consider the children's interests and abilities when providing activities so that children are always engaged. Children move freely between the indoor and outdoor areas, accessing meaningful learning through play. Throughout the nursery, children are accessing a broad range of opportunities to develop their skills, confidence and independence ready to move on to school.

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

• Leaders and staff have a good understanding of the way children learn. The environment is set up with activities to suit the children's interests and that builds on their existing skills and knowledge. Staff know the children well and identify any gaps in learning quickly and effectively. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress.
• Children play independently and focus for extended periods in self-focused play. For example, children extend their own learning as they search for bugs in the outdoor area, toddlers play together in a playhouse and older children solve problems at the water tray. Children throughout the setting are becoming self-motivated, confident learners.
• Leaders prioritise communication and language. Staff speak with the babies, modelling new words and celebrating early speech. Children hear stories, share songs and talk about all they do. The pre-school room is alive with chatter and children can be heard telling stories of their experiences, sharing ideas with the whole group. Children make good progress with their speech and learn to speak in full sentences from an early age.
• Mathematical skills are promoted well. Children build on their mathematical knowledge and understanding as they move through the nursery. Staff use language for size as babies play with different sizes of dinosaurs. Children count bugs and recognise numbers in various contexts. Children talk about full and empty containers and use positional language in their 'bear hunt' game. Children at the nursery have the mathematical language and skills they need for the next stage of their education.
• The professional staff team work together to build close relationships with the children and provide warmth, courtesy and challenge. The children respond with good behaviour, kindness to their friends and a willingness to have a go. On the occasions where a child struggles, strategies are put in place to help them learn the skills and self-regulation needed. Staff undertake additional training so they can better understand and support children's emotions. As a result, all children are making good progress and are able to access the curriculum.
• Leaders consider staff well-being when devising their policies. They have a comprehensive induction process which enables staff to understand the expectations. Staff feel supported and work well as a team, helping each other develop as practitioners and improve their skills over time. Staff are well qualified and happy in their work.
• The nursery has an effective key-person system. Leaders prioritise the attachments the children have with adults and have a personalised approach. This helps all children to settle quickly, including when they make the transition from one room to another. As a result, the children are secure in their attachments and have continuity of adult support throughout their time in nursery.
• Leaders and staff have a close working relationship with the local primary school, offering before- and after-school care. They arrange visits to ensure a smooth transition to school. As a result, the children talk with excitement about their forthcoming adventure.
• Staff demonstrate expertise in extending children's learning through play. However, staff do not always consider the needs of all children precisely enough when planning adult-led activities. Furthermore, staff are not always clear about what they want children to learn from these activities. This means that, on occasions, children lose interest and do not build on their knowledge and skills at those times.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to strengthen the planning and implementation of adult-led activities, so they are more precisely linked to what children need to learn next.