Poppies Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children play happily in the nursery. They choose activities and resources that they like and that interest them. Children listen to the descriptions and explanations staff use during their positive interactions in both adult-led and children's self-chosen activities. For example, babies and very young children concentrate for a long period of time while they explore foam mixed with blue paint. Staff talk about the colour and texture. Babies use their hands and resources, such as brushes, to make marks in the foam. Staff demonstrate how to form shapes. Children repeat the words they hear, such as 'round and round', while they attempt to draw circles with their hands. This helps very young children build on their vocabularies and begin to establish how to recognise shapes and colours.

Children develop a passion for books. They sit with staff and recall their favourite stories, studying the illustrations they see on the pages. When it is time to go home, children take delight in leading their parents and carers to a dedicated area of the reception. They sit together, choosing books to take home and share with their families or stay and read a book together. This helps to strengthen parent's involvement in their children's continued good progress.

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

• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are effectively supported. Staff work closely with external professionals and agencies who are involved in supporting the children. This helps to ensure there is a clear and consistent approach to promote children's care, education and well-being. When the time comes, staff guide parents through a well-planned transition to other settings, including school. This contributes to children's continued good progress.
• The manager is passionate in her role to support children, their families and her staff. This contributes to a strong ethos to identify individual needs. Her positive attitude is cascaded throughout the nursery, helping children to feel valued.
• Children settle quickly in the nursery. Staff get to know parents well. Parents share important information about children's routines and preferences at home. This helps staff provide consistent care to help children feel secure and safe in the nursery.
• When staff first begin to work in the nursery they are supported effectively through an induction process. This helps them quickly recognise how to keep children safe in the nursery and to understand their roles and responsibilities. Regular team meetings and supervision sessions help to ensure staff receive the training and development they need to make continual improvements to the quality of education.
• Staff understand and support the needs of children who speak English as an additional language effectively. Staff ensure they know key words in the language children speak at home. They use cards with pictures of familiar objects and routines to help children understand what is going to happen next and for children to make choices for themselves. This helps strengthen communication from the start.
• Children behave well in the nursery. Staff gently remind children of the simple and consistent rules they have in place to help keep them safe. Staff take time to explain the reasons behind the rules, helping to strengthen children's understanding. Children learn to regulate their emotions and behaviours towards others, contributing to the harmonious environment within the nursery.
• Staff use their observations to help identify what children need to learn next to help promote their good progress. Children respond well to the staff when they join their play and activities. However, at times the enthusiastic staff do not give children enough time to solve problems for themselves or to find different ways of doing things. This hinders children's creativity and opportunities to develop their own thinking skills and ideas.
• Children choose their own resources, helping to trigger learning experiences. However, the newly established team working with two-year-old children have yet to fully embed a highly effective and stimulating learning environment. This hinders children's motivation to become curious, enthusiastic learners.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• give children more time to predict outcomes, solve problems and find different ways of doing things for themselves and with their friends
• support staff to help them further develop and plan a stimulating environment for children to spontaneously investigate, this particularly relates to the group room for two-year-olds.