Pimlico Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff place children's well-being at the heart of everything they do. This is seen throughout their consistently sensitive and nurturing interactions with children which promote secure and affectionate bonds. Children show that they feel extremely safe and are full of confidence at the setting. For instance, they giggle joyfully with staff and express themselves freely as they sing. Staff are excellent role models and have extremely high expectations for children's behaviour. Children learn from their positive relationships with staff and demonstrate a very caring and helpful approach towards others.

The manager and staff are firmly committed to helping each child in the setting to achieve their best. They carefully create a rich and inspiring curriculum which fosters children's readiness for school and beyond. For instance, children become superbly independent with their personal care. They manage tasks, such as wiping their noses and putting on their coats, from a young age. Staff are extremely calm and encouraging. They inspire children to explore their fascinations and support them to complete tasks for themselves. This contributes to children's strong motivation and clear love of learning. Children demonstrate this as they set themselves challenges, such as climbing the big ladder to the slide. They concentrate well and do not become discouraged when tasks are difficult.

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

• The manager and staff value the diversity of the families using their setting and are extremely welcoming and inclusive. They work very hard to engage all parents and develop strong partnerships. This promotes children's learning and welfare exceptionally well. For instance, staff provide ongoing support to parents who are struggling with issues such as children's diets and oral health. They offer useful advice and help parents to access local services for specialist help.
• Parents are delighted by their children's rapid progress since joining the setting, especially with their social and communication skills. They appreciate that staff provide them with books and simple activities, such as an outdoor scavenger hunt, to help them to continue children's learning outside of the setting.
• The manager invests in the staff team and encourages staff to pursue their passion for childcare. Staff are highly qualified and experienced. They have excellent opportunities to enhance their professional skills and knowledge, such as studying for higher level qualifications.
• The support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is exceptional. The manager ensures that staff are trained to a high level so that children with SEND have a skilled team around them. Staff devise precise plans and work in close partnership with parents and other professionals. This helps children to flourish and make rapid progress towards their individual goals.
• Staff support children to gain excellent communication skills and readily praise them for their speaking and positive interactions. Some children attending are developing their speech or learning English as an additional language. Therefore, staff skilfully teach children other ways to communicate, such as using pictures and gestures. This helps all children to find their 'voice' and feel valued. For instance, children confidently express their choice of activity by showing pictures to staff.
• Staff have excellent knowledge of where children are in their development. They link the learning experiences to children's interests very effectively. For example, staff identify that younger children need help to use cutlery when preparing their snacks. They provide fun activities which motivate children to practise and master these skills, such as by chopping 'wiggly worms' made from dough.
• Staff are passionate about providing a culturally rich and varied curriculum. This includes regular outings outside of the setting, such as to gardens, a library, the theatre and a farm. This expands children's knowledge and understanding of the world and contributes to their sense of belonging within modern society.
• Staff are extremely effective in supporting children's emotional development. They teach children to identify and describe how they feel, using words, pictures and facial expressions. Older children demonstrate how this helps them to regulate their behaviour independently. For example, they tell staff that they feel sad about disagreements over toys and find a picture of a sad face. Their friends listen and help them to find solutions, such as offering them other toys to play with.