Peter Pan Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and babies are very happy in this homely, nurturing environment. Children have strong bonds with staff, which help them to feel safe and emotionally secure. Staff in the baby room use eye contact and gentle voices when they speak. This helps babies feel valued and able to share special moments of deep connection with their key person. Older children excitedly point out their photograph on their key person's list.

Children enjoy playing with their friends and are extremely eager to learn. They build long train tracks and help each other to solve problems. For example, they think about how to get the magnets on all the carriages the right way round. Children love to mix paint and create new colours, saying, 'it looks like peach!' They experiment with their brushes in different ways and are proud of their achievements. Children excitedly fill buckets with sand and bury objects and have fun trying to retrieve them using a variety of tools. They work together and share their ideas. When sand spills on the floor, they know it will make the floor slippery, so they get a dustpan and brush to sweep it up.

Babies enjoy rolling balls and touching all the different textures. They put wooden carrots of different sizes into holes, repeating these actions with delight and learning to take turns. They love to sing songs, using sticks to clack together and hide behind their backs. They copy staff as they wriggle fingers like a spider.

The curriculum supports children's learning in all areas, Therefore, they make good progress.

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

• Leaders offer an ambitious, well-organised curriculum, which is delivered effectively through planning that is based on children's interests. Leaders have good systems in place to assess children's progress regularly and to ensure there are no gaps in their learning. Staff know the children very well, and next steps planning for individual children is appropriate and timely.
• Staff read to babies, pacing their words carefully, pointing out objects, making comments, using new words or signs and using appropriate intonation. This helps babies to better understand what the book is about and to learn new language. Staff give babies an active role in turning pages and lifting flaps, which helps babies to sustain interest and learn more.
• Staff are supportive of children's learning, playing alongside them and increasing their knowledge and skills with sensitive input. For example, staff support children as they recognise the initial letters of their name. However, in some situations, staff do not always fully consider the learning needs of younger children in the group.
• Staff support children's emotional development very well and refer to displays such as the 'colour monster'. Children talk about emotions in their play; for example, they put happy and sad faces on play dough and toy rabbits and mermaids. Children are confident to quickly tell staff when they are upset about something that has happened.
• Staff are very respectful to children when asking to change their nappies or wash their hands but are not always mindful of whether this will interrupt children's learning when they are deeply engaged in activities.
• Staff are keen to take children into the community, and they enjoy walks to the local green areas, as well as the local shops. Staff use these opportunities to teach, for example, how numbers on the passing buses indicate different routes.
• Children follow instructions exceptionally well, and their behaviour is exemplary. Children are given a voice in decision making, such as the setting's golden rules, and this contributes to the high expectations of behaviour. Children are increasingly skilful with independence tasks, such as serving up their food and following good hygiene practices.
• Parents are full of praise for the commitment and expertise of staff. They are confident that their children are safe and well cared for. They are pleased by the broad scope of learning achieved and how skilful and sociable their children have become.
• Leaders and managers support the professional development of themselves and staff by providing a comprehensive online training platform. There is an open-door policy and regular opportunities to talk with managers, as well as termly supervision meetings.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to strengthen planning for adult-led group activities so that the learning needs of younger children are always considered
• adapt the timing of routine tasks so that they do not unnecessarily interrupt children who are deeply engaged in learning opportunities.