Play Station Nusery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children of all ages thrive at the nursery. They all have excellent relationships with the staff, who show genuine warmth and affection towards them. Staff use every opportunity to foster children's self-esteem and show genuine pride when children achieve. Children who are new to the nursery receive sensitive support to help them settle. Children are very confident and well behaved. Full of smiles, babies and children explore the inspiring indoor and outdoor learning environments.

Staff have an in-depth understanding of children's needs, interests and abilities. They carefully plan a curriculum that provides many rich and varied learning experiences. Babies enjoy the many sensory experiences staff plan. For example, they love to explore the porridge oats as they scoop, stir and sprinkle. Staff use the tranquil sensory room well, enabling children to relax and explore. Babies develop their mobility. They crawl and shuffle at speed, gaining confidence to stand and learn to walk. Toddlers show agility as they climb, slide and jump off a soft-play structure with staff close by to ensure their safety.

Children enjoy well-planned group activities that promote their thinking and understanding of the world. They talk with staff about how ice forms and melts. They select tools to chisel items out of ice. Children enthusiastically act out 'The Three Little Pigs' story. They offer ideas to extend the story, such as to use more screws to secure the door of the stick house and perhaps to use a chainsaw. Staff provide materials for the construction of houses for toy pigs. Together, they discuss design ideas and solve construction problems.

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

• Leaders and staff are highly enthusiastic in their roles. They work passionately to ensure that every child has fun in their learning and development. The management team have a good overview of where every child is in their learning. They support staff well and work proactively to drive continuous improvement. Staff embrace training opportunities. For example, staff attended 'beach training' and use the knowledge gained to enhance children's exploration of the local beach and coastline. Children discover creatures beneath driftwood and gain a greater understanding of the world.
• The management team carefully consider how best to use extra funding. For example, to enhance children's life experiences, such as enabling all children to take part in swimming lessons, explore the local community and visit exciting places of interest, including a train journey to Weston-Super-Mare. Additionally, children enjoy getting up close to farm animals and alpacas, who are brought in by external professionals to visit the nursery.
• Staff instinctively extend children's language and thinking skills. They model language, provide a narrative to children's play and introduce new vocabulary. They make good use of songs, rhymes and stories and ask questions to encourage children to share ideas and recall experiences.
• Overall, staff plan the curriculum successfully to promote all areas of learning. They encourage children to count and recognise shapes and begin to use some mathematical language with the youngest children. Older children ably find and match objects according to colours and show interest in weighing items. However, staff do not consistently challenge the most-able children to complete simple calculations and to gain an understanding of more complex mathematical ideas to further their progress.
• Staff value the diverse family backgrounds of the children. Staff learn words in the children's home languages and use picture prompts and sign language to help children to gain a good grasp of English. The curriculum encompasses cultural celebrations and traditions that reflect family homelands. Children learn to value diversity and to respect one another.
• Parents share how impressed they are with the support they and their children receive from staff. They feel extremely well informed about their children's learning and really appreciate opportunities to join their children in the setting for stay-and-play sessions. For example, they recall the delightful experience of bringing children into nursery to see 'Santa' in the enchanted grotto that staff imaginatively created. Additionally, staff provide useful information for parents, such as how to promote healthy eating and how to support children's oral health. Parents look forward to the regular online updates and photos that give them an insight into their children's experiences.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide even greater mathematical challenge for most-able children, to help them learn simple calculations and to gain an understanding of more complex mathematical ideas.