Playcorner Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, confident and curious in this welcoming nursery. Staff know each child well and use this knowledge to plan engaging activities that build on what children already know and can do. Staff skilfully adapt their teaching, providing clear explanations, modelling language and demonstrating new skills, ensuring all children are supported to make good progress. As a result, children develop confidence, social skills and positive attitudes towards learning across all areas of learning. Children understand the rules staff implement and they remind their friends during activities that 'sharing is caring', demonstrating kindness and cooperation. They behave well.

Staff promote a love of stories, rhymes and songs, reading expressively to capture children's interest. They carefully select books linked to current topics to broaden children's understanding. For example, after enjoying a story about a caterpillar, children enthusiastically explore the garden, looking for eggs on the leaves. They share their ideas, excitedly suggesting the butterflies must already be flying in the sky. Staff teach children to join in with repeated phrases from familiar stories, such as 'The Gingerbread Man', building their memory and confidence. Songs and rhymes are woven into daily routines, helping children to develop listening skills, rhythm and language. Staff provide daily opportunities for children to build strength, coordination and control, indoors and outdoors. In the garden, children confidently balance along planks and tyres, carefully negotiating the uneven surfaces. This develops their core stability, balance and spatial awareness. Children are well prepared for their next stage in learning, including their move to school.

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

• Supporting children's communication and language development is a clear priority, including for those who speak English as an additional language. Staff provide a running commentary during play to introduce new vocabulary and model language. Many staff speak additional languages and use children's home language alongside English, helping to build confidence and understanding.
• Staff teach children essential mathematical knowledge through play and daily routines. For example, children eagerly join in with number rhymes, counting how many ducks are left in the pond. They explore weight by using scales to compare different objects, confidently using words such as 'heavy' and 'light'.
• Staff know their key children well. They share deep bonds with children, who demonstrate that they are content and comfortable in their company. Through tactile and gentle interactions with staff, children develop in confidence and emotional security.
• Staff provide activities within the daily routine to help children develop their independence. Toddlers and pre-school children learn to serve themselves snacks, as well as pour their own drinks. They are encouraged to have a go at zips and buttons as they dress themselves. This helps children to do as much as possible for themselves. However, staff do not encourage children to tidy away resources after they have finished with them. For example, staff pick things up for children when they discard toys on the floor without encouraging children to do this themselves. Therefore, children are not always supported to learn how to care for their environment or the resources within it.
• The nursery provides targeted support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They identify areas in children's learning and development that need attention at an early stage. Leaders make good use of staff's skills and collaborate with other professionals, such as inclusion specialists, to focus on and assist children's development to maximise their progress. In addition, leaders make effective use of any additional funding they receive to support children's learning and development.
• Leaders have established strong partnerships with parents, providing regular updates on children's progress and how to extend learning at home. Parents value the friendly, approachable staff and feel confident in the care their children receive. However, staff do not provide parents with clear guidance on healthy eating. Therefore, some children bring lunch boxes containing inappropriate food choices that do not support healthy lifestyles. This limits children's understanding of nutrition and misses an opportunity to reinforce positive habits around food.
• Self-evaluation is accurate and focused on continuous improvement, ensuring the nursery offers a safe, engaging and purposeful environment for all children. Staff have recently attended training on feelings and emotions, and they comment that this has enhanced their engagement with the children, supporting more meaningful interactions and helping children to better understand and express their feelings.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help children develop responsibility for their environment and care for shared resources
• provide parents with clear guidance on healthy eating to ensure children bring nutritious food, supporting their well-being and understanding of healthy lifestyles.