Red Squirrels Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and confident in this welcoming setting. They are greeted by kind staff who know them and their families well. As a result, children settle quickly and feel safe and secure. Children separate well from their parents, who comment on how much their children enjoy attending.

Children are provided with a stimulating learning environment and take part in a wide range of activities. For example, they learn to use a variety of tools, such as pens, sticky tape and scissors. This helps to develop their hand muscles in readiness for early writing. During outdoor play, they run, skip and jump as they eagerly find pictures of woodland animals in their purpose-built 'nature area'.

Children understand daily routines and listen attentively to staff's requests. Children's behaviour is good. They listen to staff and respond to instructions given. This helps to ensure a calm environment where children show positive attitudes to their learning. For example, during group time, children are eager to learn what day it is by using their 'days of the week' song. Staff encourage children to value and respect their friends. They use praise effectively throughout the day. This helps to build children's confidence and self-esteem.

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

• Staff understand what children already know and what they need to learn next. They use their knowledge of children's interests to implement a curriculum that is exciting and educational. However, staff are not always clear on the learning intent for some activities. Therefore, they are sometimes unclear about what skills and knowledge they want children to gain to support their ongoing progress.
• Staff recognise the importance of raising children's awareness of diversity and cultures represented in modern Britain. For example, they ask parents to share videos from trips back to their home countries. They also learn about festivals from all over the world. Children take part in local outings and form positive links with the community. For example, they enjoy pumpkin picking in the local area. This teaches children that they are part of a wider society, which helps to prepare them for life in modern Britain.
• Parents speak positively about the setting. They report that their children make good progress, particularly in learning new vocabulary. Staff regularly provide parents with information about children's progress and what they have achieved within the setting. Parents are encouraged to borrow books to share with their children at home. They are given information that supports their child to develop a love for stories. However, the arrangements for supporting parents to extend other areas of learning are not yet embedded. This does not promote consistency in children's learning.
• Children's behaviour is good. Staff consistently use praise and encouragement to support children's behaviour. On rare occasions when children display unwanted behaviour, staff are consistent in their responses. As a result, children manage their own behaviour and understand the effects of their behaviour on others.
• Children develop good communication and language skills. Staff help children to recall what they know. For instance, they listen and respond to them as they act out a visit to the doctor. Children draw on their prior knowledge to explain to others what happens when someone is injured. Staff use open-ended questions to develop children's thinking. This helps to develop children's vocabulary and supports them to become confident communicators.
• Staff have high expectations for all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children with SEND receive prompt, early support and benefit from targeted one-to-one support. These interventions have a positive impact on children's progress and development.
• The manager truly values the staff team and implements practical procedures to support its well-being. Regular supervision meetings are in place to foster a culture of mutual support and build on the already good practice. The manager holds a mental health first-aid certificate. As a result, she is able to understand and recognise signs of common mental health issues. Staff report that they are supported well and feel valued.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus professional development opportunities more precisely on supporting staff to raise the quality of their teaching to the highest level
• share ideas with parents to help extend children's learning at home.