Poppies Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this welcoming and inclusive nursery. Staff manage children's transitions from home to the nursery well. Their settling-in procedures are tailored to the individual needs of each child and their family. Children feel safe, are happy and settled. They are secure in their relationships with staff. Children confidently seek out staff to share in their play. Staff respond positively when children need reassurance, offering cuddles and hugs. They know about children's home lives, and talk to them about their families, enhancing their sense of belonging.

Staff follow the individual routines of babies, promoting continuity of care. The gestures and babbles of babies are responded to positively. Older children are engaged in conversation. Staff ask questions to encourage them to think and give them time to think before responding. Overall, teaching is good. Children have a positive attitude to learning and take part in purposeful play. They confidently choose what they want to play with and readily lead their own learning. Children benefit from interesting resources that help support their natural instincts to discover and explore. Children develop the key skills needed for school. They understand what is expected of them and respond positively to the high expectations of staff. Staff manage unwanted behaviour sensitively.

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

• Staff genuinely care about the children. They talk confidently about where children are in their learning and development and what they need to do to support their continuing progress. Staff are confident to carry their findings through to planning a challenging curriculum for indoor activities.
• Staff meet the individual needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. All children are fully included in the activities and routines of the day. However, some older children become restless and lose interest in whole-group activities. These sessions last too long and staff do not organise these well enough to support children to listen and concentrate.
• Staff do not consistently consider a wide range of activities, when planning for the outdoor environment. For example, literacy and mathematics are not routinely planned for outdoors during the winter months. This does not fully support those children who learn best when outdoors.
• Staff are actively engaged in the children's play and learning. They support children's speech and language development effectively. Younger children thoroughly enjoy singing. They join in enthusiastically with action songs and rhymes.
• Children develop their physical skills. They access swings and wheeled toys in the garden and park. Staff encourage children in ring games and yoga. Children are helped to manage their self-care relevant to their age and stage of development. For example, they readily wash their own hands before lunch.
• Staff ensure that the premises are clean and fit for purpose. They all take responsibility for this, including the management team. Any repairs or maintenance needed is addressed quickly to ensure that children are safe.
• Each child has a named adult who takes responsibility for their care and learning needs. The key persons build friendly and trusting relationships with parents. Parents describe the nursery as 'a wonderful and nurturing setting' that is 'a home from home'. They appreciate the good levels of communication that keeps them fully informed about their children. Parents describe staff as being 'just like part of the family'.
• The provider monitors the learning and development requirements effectively to ensure that children are making good progress from their starting points. Gaps in children's learning are effectively identified and addressed. The provider recognises where there are weaknesses in staff practice and has plans in place to address this. The management team supports professional development opportunities for staff, to bring about further improvements in practice.
• The provider manages the performance of staff well. There is a programme of regular supervision for all staff, to foster a culture of mutual support and teamwork. Staff's well-being is always promoted. Staff state that they feel well supported and are confident to talk to management about confidential or sensitive issues.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and improve the organisation of whole-group times when older children are doing activities together
• focus more closely on supporting all areas of learning for children who prefer to learn in the outdoor environment.