Queens Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This outstanding nursery provides children with a carefully considered, rich learning environment in which they thrive. Relationships between children and their key person are fully secure. Children readily turn to them for comfort and reassurance. Children quickly build their confidence, moving away from the security of their key person to explore the enticing activities on offer. They trust all staff, knowing that other staff will provide them with the same exceptional levels of care and support if their key person is not available.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. If children encounter minor challenges interacting with others, staff sensitively and swiftly provide them with support. For instance, they remind children to use kind hands. Children readily display their understanding of the rules in place, extending their kind hands to give their friends a hug to show them that they care without any prompting from staff.

The safety and welfare of the children is given the highest priority. Processes for staff to follow, including in relation to serving food, are robust and fully embedded. Children develop a strong awareness of the importance of keeping themselves and their friends safe, especially during mealtimes. For instance, when the daily helper hands out different coloured plates at lunch time this is discussed thoroughly.

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

• A highly focused curriculum is securely embedded across the nursery. Leaders and staff reflect on their curriculum and have an exceptional understanding of how to plan and deliver this. They readily amend their plans to build on children's knowledge and skills in the moment that they are required. For instance, older children build on their knowledge throughout the day as staff use their observations from the morning to adapt activities instinctively, extending and challenging children's learning even further in the afternoon.
• Staff expertly adapt their interactions with children, providing new concepts and information at relevant times. Young children learn new vocabulary and are quickly able to use this correctly in context, thanks to staff's superb and timely interactions. Staff provide information in a variety of ways to ensure children's understanding is secure. For instance, they use their voices at different volumes when saying words relating to sounds. Children then repeat this vocabulary and volume in their play immediately as they hammer 'quietly' and 'loudly'.
• Professional partnerships are a vital part of the nursery ethos. For instance, staff run workshops for parents about 'risky play' and how this can be taught safely. Other professionals attend the nursery to share their expertise with the staff team. Parents, staff and professionals engage in meaningful discussions to consistently support individual children's needs to the highest standard. As a result, all children rapidly develop the skills and knowledge they need both at home and at nursery.
• Leaders have excellent oversight of the nursery. They engage positively with the highly valued and motivated staff team, monitoring their practice regularly. They hold meaningful discussions with staff regarding their key children. This contributes to highly focused observations and tracking of children's progress. As a result, gaps in children's learning rarely emerge, and if they do then staff are able to address these swiftly to minimise the impact on children's learning and development.
• Children transition seamlessly between rooms when they are ready to progress, as well as when they join the nursery or move on. Staff take children to visit other associated settings, such as to use the garden facilities at the pre-school. Staff work across the associated settings, holding detailed discussions when they handover to the new key person. This also helps children to become familiar with staff and begin to form bonds before their move. Children benefit from moving in small groups, so that they can continue the strong friendships they have formed, and this helps them to settle exceptionally quickly.
• Children demonstrate incredibly high levels of focus and concentration and are highly motivated by their own learning and exploration. For instance, they persevere and build models and towers using blocks. When they encounter a challenge, younger children receive highly effective support from staff. Older children go on to solve their own problems. For instance, they bring the model down to the floor independently so that they can extend the tower further. They continue to build and adapt their model without distraction remaining deeply engaged for long periods of time.