Phoenix Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are extremely confident, self-assured and settled in this exceptional nursery. They receive excellent care and education from passionate, knowledgeable and caring staff. Children are happy to come into the nursery and separate well from their parents, with the nurturing support of their key person. There is a strong focus on emotional well-being, which helps children to recognise their emotions. For example, during circle time, children say, 'I'm a bit happy and a bit sad' and 'I'm super happy!' They have time to explain further if they wish to.

Children are motivated and active learners. They explore, investigate and become completely immersed in play and learning. They make choices and play with confidence from a very early age. This is due to staff's expert knowledge of how young children learn. Staff make sure that the environment for play is exciting, challenging and offers opportunities for children to practise skills and solve problems. For example, pre-school children cut lengths of tape with scissors so that they can secure wrapping paper. They think carefully about how they can get their paintbrush clean after using blue paint and say, 'Oh yes, I can use water!'

Children make excellent progress in all areas of learning because the rich curriculum is highly focused on building skills over time. There is a clear progression in experiences, skills and knowledge. Staff expertly support progress because they have a deep understanding of child development. Children build on previous learning extremely well because staff make sure that children practise and apply what they have learned.

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

• Leaders of this inspiring nursery have a strong vision and clear ethos. They are passionate about nurturing children to become secure, independent learners who are ready for the next stage in their learning. They do this by making sure that staff share and understand their vision and ethos. As a result, children thrive in this inspiring learning environment.
• The ambitious, well-planned and sequenced curriculum reflects all seven areas of learning and focuses on how young children learn. It is securely embedded throughout the nursery, from the youngest babies through to the older pre-school children. They develop and practise skills while immersing themselves in imaginative, creative and exciting play opportunities. There is a clear progression of skills across the nursery.
• Staff's knowledge of child development is very good, which helps them to plan challenging activities that build on what children already know and can do. All children show curiosity and sustain high levels of concentration. For example, pre-school children persevere to cut tape with scissors so that they can wrap items up in wrapping paper. Toddlers solve problems as they find the right sized bricks to connect together. Babies concentrate as they clean the model teeth with brushes.
• Staff support children with additional needs extremely well. Support, advice and guidance provided by other professionals are embedded into daily practice and quality interactions.
• Partnerships with parents are effective. Parents comment that they are very happy with the nursery and are reassured that their children settle well. They describe strong partnerships with leaders and staff. They know about their child's development through daily discussions and an online communication platform.
• Leaders have put in place a rigorous recruitment and induction process. This helps to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children. Regular supervision and incentives encourage staff to achieve and develop. They deepen their already thorough knowledge and improve their teaching skills because they access an excellent range of training.
• All staff have high expectations for children's communication and language development. They have an excellent knowledge of developmental milestones, which means that activities are relevant for children. For example, babies and toddlers increase their vocabulary through songs, rhymes and familiar stories. Older children retell the story of the Nativity in their play and activities. For example, they dress up in the role-play area and recall the story, using puppets.
• Children's independence is expertly supported. They have autonomy and make choices. For example, pre-school children vote to decide which story book from a choice of two for staff to read at story time. Toddlers confidently take their lunch plates and cutlery to the kitchen area and scrape leftovers into the compost tub. Babies are determined as they crawl from one exciting activity to another.