Pooh Corner Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and flourish in this welcoming and stimulating environment. The excellent settling-in procedures help them to feel secure from the start. Children form excellent bonds with the enthusiastic staff who have high aspirations for them. Children make friends, play together harmoniously and successfully solve problems. For example, children confidently experiment with resources to construct a marble run.

The senior manager has a clear vision for what she wants the different ages of children to learn. Staff know all children exceptionally well and successfully implement a focused curriculum that promotes children's engagement and enjoyment. Staff monitor children's progress constantly and identify any delays in their development. Staff work exceptionally well with parents and other professionals to put in place swift support to help close any gaps in children's learning. As a result, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are bilingual, achieve the best outcomes possible from their starting points.

The educational programme for communication and language is outstanding. All children become competent communicators. Staff expertly use signs and visual images alongside words to reinforce babies' and children's understanding. Staff talk to children constantly, introduce new words to extend their vocabulary and ask effective questions to develop children's critical thinking skills. Children thoroughly enjoy regular singing and rhyming activities throughout the day, including in languages other than English. Pre-school children eagerly recall objects they found in the 'silly soup pan' earlier, and confidently recognise words that sound the same. Staff challenge them successfully to think of other rhyming words, extending children's understanding of phonics in readiness for school.

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

• The senior manager and leaders are passionate and committed to providing an extremely high-quality provision. They constantly reflect on practice and are extremely proactive to make improvements to benefit children. For example, they have put in place excellent measures to ensure children's individual dietary needs are met. Leaders observe staff regularly and provide support to enhance their skills further.
• Staff sensitively and successfully support children's positive behaviour and promote children's levels of resilience and self-esteem very effectively. Children enjoy exploring resources in 'treasure baskets' to help them understand and manage their emotions. Pre-school children use sand timers independently to help them share and take turns with popular resources. Children show delight when they receive 'bucket hearts' from staff, detailing what they have done well. Pre-school children proudly sing a song staff have taught them about how bright, beautiful and strong they are.
• Children develop their imagination and a love of books. They demonstrate excellent listening and attention skills for their age. Staff captivate babies and children during story times. Older children eagerly take turns to tell stories. They show respect for others' ideas, such as when children recall previous learning that the train 'is in the dark because it is in a tunnel'. Staff engage enthusiastically in pretend play with children, encouraging babies to push buttons on toy telephones and supporting older children to create 'cappuccinos' for their friends.
• Children delight in sensory play. They eagerly manipulate dough and explore squidgy gel alphabet letters with staff, talking about what the letters represent. Staff challenge children successfully to have a go and learn through trial and error. For instance, younger children dribble coloured glue onto card to make patterns and choose textured materials for their collages.
• Staff encourage children to make decisions about their play and expertly adapt activities to help children achieve. Children become deeply absorbed and concentrate for long periods. They enthusiastically engage in 'discovery sessions' and staff embed mathematics into activities. Children join construction pieces to create different shapes, persevere to thread cotton reels onto laces and talk to staff about their creations. Pre-school children delight in using hammers and metal pins to knock wooden shapes onto cork boards. They confidently count the 20 shapes on their board and recognise that this is 'more than' on other boards.
• Children enjoy a wide variety of freshly prepared, nutritious snacks and meals and regular fresh air and exercise, promoting their good health. Staff support children to take supervised risks in their physical play, and, as a result, children develop excellent coordination skills. Babies experiment with different ways of moving, on and over soft-play equipment for example, and older children show great skill as they negotiate space and transport equipment around the learning environments.
• Children develop excellent independence and self-care skills. Babies learn to feed themselves and staff teach older children to use mirrors to wipe their faces after eating. Pre-school children thoroughly enjoy taking responsibilities for tasks, such as setting and clearing away tables and chairs at mealtimes.
• Parents speak glowingly about the friendly and approachable senior manager and staff. They speak positively about the settling-in procedures which are tailored towards children's individual needs. They appreciate the support they have received from staff to promote children's learning and development. They feel well informed about their children's time at nursery and would recommend it to their friends.