Precious Jem's Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The atmosphere in the nursery is tranquil and calm. Staff strive to create a relaxed and home-from-home environment. They are kind, gentle and sensitive in their interactions with children. In turn, children enjoy their time spent in the setting. They arrive happy and ready to learn. Behaviour is exemplary. Children are helpful at tidy-up time and play cooperatively together. Older children recite the setting's rules, and younger children respond well to nurturing encouragement and praise. They invite their peers into games and enjoy the company of others. Children are taught how to manage their own behaviour. For example, staff use books about feelings, kindness and making friends, alongside games about emotions, to teach children in age-appropriate ways how to treat others. This helps to promote children's good behaviour and emotional maturity.

Children enjoy a range of activities delivered by external providers to enhance their learning experiences. For instance, children enjoy Spanish and sports lessons. These additional sessions help to extend children's confidence, skills and knowledge. Staff organise trips to enhance an already broad curriculum. A recent visit to the allotment is referred to by both children and staff as 'the best day ever'. This demonstrates that learning is made fun and exciting. Children enjoy making bread and develop a positive attitude towards healthy eating as they learn about ingredients and nutrition in hands-on ways. Literacy, books and reading are integral aspects of the curriculum. Staff value story time as an opportunity to foster children's concentration and language skills. Children enjoy borrowing books from the nursery to extend their early reading skills. Overall, children enjoy a variety of play and activities. They are curious, engaged and have a wonderful attitude towards their learning.

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

• Leaders are ambitious for children. The curriculum is designed around an ethos that all children deserve opportunities to reach their full potential. Children are provided with broad and varied experiences and make good progress.
• Managers take into account the views of parents, staff and children when evaluating the setting and service. Priorities for improvement are understood by everyone and there is a strong culture of continuous improvement.
• Partnerships with parents are a notable strength at this setting. Parents compliment the staff on the caring atmosphere and excellent communication they provide. Staff engage with parents using a wealth of different methods, both face to face and online. Children benefit greatly from this partnership working, as they enjoy seamless care and learning between home and the setting.
• Staff are well supported. They meet frequently with senior leaders to discuss their practice and professional development. Staff comment that they feel valued and enjoy working at the nursery. This contributes to a settled and motivated workforce, which leads to consistently good practice.
• Children who have been identified as needing a little extra support are offered quick interventions. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak more than one language. Children receive the support necessary to make progress.
• Children's progress is carefully tracked. This helps staff to build an accurate picture of what children know and can do, alongside what they need to learn next. However, during planned adult-led activities, staff do not always use this knowledge to focus their teaching around these gaps to help children make rapid progress.
• Children benefit from a very rich and varied curriculum. However, there are fewer opportunities for older children to access craft and creative activities independently. This prevents children who prefer to play expressively from choosing these activities.
• Staff are vigilant towards safety. They complete daily safety checks throughout the nursery and take steps to remove potential hazards. Staff mobile telephones are only used in permitted designated areas, away from children. Children play and learn in a safe and secure space.
• Children's transitions on to school are well managed. Staff meet with school teachers to share their professional assessments. This helps children to make a smooth transition to school when the time eventually comes.
• This is an inclusive setting where different religions and backgrounds are valued and appreciated. For instance, children enjoy learning about different cultural celebrations, and staff display words in different languages, such as Spanish. This helps to promote children's appreciation for others who are different from themselves.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen teaching during adult-led activities to focus on what children need to learn next
• extend opportunities for children who prefer to play expressively to choose creative activities independently.