Piglets Of Weedon

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are cared for by welcoming and nurturing staff. They arrive with big smiles on their faces and confidently separate from their parents. Children settle quickly and engage in their chosen activity. Staff are attentive to all the children's needs and provide them with cuddles when needed. The ambitious curriculum promotes children's confidence, independence, and positive attitudes to learning. Children develop close bonds with staff who know them well. Toddlers and babies giggle when staff blow bubbles. They repeat the words 'bubbles' and 'pop' modelled by staff as they try and catch them. Staff support their physical development as they learn to drink from cups and feed themselves independently from a young age.

Children learn to behave well. The staff plan the environment to support their development and interests. This contributes to children making good progress in their learning. Children develop friendships within the nursery. They play together well and enjoy helping each other. Even the youngest children instinctively help their friends. For example, saying 'be careful' to their friends as they take their hand to go down the stairs together. Staff teach children kindness and respect. This is reflected in the children's interactions as they learn to share and take turns with their friends.

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

• The manager and staff devise a well-planned curriculum. Staff consider children's interests as they plan activities. Learning is sequenced to give children the knowledge and understanding they need to prepare them for the next stage of their education. Overall, staff are skilful and interact with children well. However, they do not continually challenge older and the most-able children's learning. Consequently, these children do not always make the progress they are capable of.
• Children's emotional well-being is supported well. Staff regularly check in with children and ask them how they are feeling. They encourage children to share why they feel upset, happy or angry. Staff validate children's emotions and talk them through different ways to resolve minor conflicts. As a result, children from a young age begin to learn emotional resilience.
• Staff support children's communication and language development, incorporating stories, rhymes and songs in many aspects of the day. They confidently model language, varying their support to meet each child's needs. Babies display excellent listening skills as they enjoy staff singing familiar songs. Older children sit engaged as staff read the 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. They join in with counting the different food and anticipating the parts of the story when the caterpillar finally becomes a butterfly.
• Children develop their physical skills well. Staff support children using the equipment at the local park. Older children balance along the rope bridge while younger children learn to climb up the ladder to the slide. Staff encourage children to take on these new challenges and praise them as they succeed. This builds children's confidence to try new challenges.
• The manager has implemented systems to support staff's ongoing continuous professional development. For instance, they attend staff and supervision meetings. However, these do not focus enough on identifying and addressing any areas for improvement in staff practice to help them continually develop their skills.
• Children are learning how to keep themselves safe. For example, staff teach children about road safety and ensure they always look and listen as they cross the road. They teach children why they must wear a hat and suncream outside when the weather is sunny.
• Parents speak highly of this nursery and the staff team. They are pleased with how well their children settle and their progress. They feel informed about their children's learning and development and know what they are working on and how they can support them at home. Parents receive regular feedback and communication about their children's day.
• The manager plans a range of valuable learning experiences through purposeful outings. Staff accompany children by bus and train to visit the sea life centre, farm, and theatre. The local environment is also utilised, and children regularly visit the local park, shop and library. Children meet a range of people and learn important life skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide additional challenges for the older and most-able children to extend their learning further
• strengthen the arrangements for staff coaching, support and training to support their teaching to a consistently high level.