Roots for Life Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy at this welcoming nursery, ready to start their day playing with their friends. On arrival, they are greeted by friendly staff, who know the children well. An effective key-person system ensures that all children are well supported and their individual needs are met. This helps children to feel safe and secure and gives them a strong sense of belonging. Leaders and staff have a clear vision of what they want children to learn and can explain how they put this into practice. For instance, they plan a curriculum based on children's interest and stages of development to support their individual needs. As a result, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, show positive attitudes to their learning and make good progress from their starting point.

Staff ensure that children have fresh air and exercise daily. Children enjoy outdoor play and have many opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, they squeal with joy as they play in the nursery garden. They practise their coordination and balancing skills on beams and climbing frames. This contributes positively towards children's small- and large-muscle development.

Staff support children's personal, social and emotional well-being very well. They engage children in books about different emotions and support children to talk about their own feelings. Additionally, staff use effective methods to promote children's good behaviour and to encourage them to be kind.

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

• Staff speak positively of the provider and manager and report that they are well supported. Regular supervisions and team meetings help staff to feel valued and content in their role. Staff work well together in their own rooms and across the nursery. This helps to promote consistency and supports children's transition as they move up to the next room.
• The provider and manager work together collaboratively with the local schools, the local authority and other professionals to support the children in their care further. Staff take good account of children's needs when using additional funding. For instance, they obtain resources and provide additional hours to further support individual children and their families.
• Staff work in partnership with parents to provide continuity in children's care routines and development. Staff act swiftly in identifying children that need additional support and work together with parents and relevant agencies. Parents report that their children thoroughly enjoy attending the setting. They appreciate the many learning experiences that staff plan and provide for the children. Additionally, parents come into the nursery to read to the children in their home language.
• Staff provide resources and activities that they know children will enjoy. They successfully engage children in meaningful activities throughout the day. For example, children enthusiastically explore art and craft materials, engage in physical activities and take part in music lessons. Children also learn sign language and have lessons in Chinese Mandarin. However, on occasion, some activities are so popular that they become overcrowded. At these times, children do not fully benefit from the intended learning and sometimes squabble over resources.
• Overall, staff teach children about the importance of eating a healthy diet and explain to them why it is important to do so. However, during mealtimes not all staff model this consistently well. Although, they talk to the children about leading a healthy lifestyle, they do not demonstrate this actively through their own choices when sitting with the children at lunchtime. This means, that children are receiving conflicting messages and do not gain a solid understanding of how to make healthy choices.
• Staff skilfully encourage children's mathematical learning across the nursery. For example, young children show high levels of concentration as they measure and pour water into cups, pretending to make smoothies. Furthermore, all children learn about different shapes during activities and feel utter pride when naming them correctly. This promotes children's sequenced mathematical learning superbly.
• Staff promote children's literacy, as well as their speech and language development, effectively. For instance, they sing with the children and read to them every day. Staff engage children in the stories they read to them. They ask them question and encourage children to contribute with their own ideas. Children relish the praise they continually receive from attentive staff and thoroughly enjoy taking part in group sessions, ready for their move on to school.
• Staff plan enriching experiences for the children to help them learn about the world they are growing up in. For example, they visit the local market where children can chose their own fruit and vegetables. Furthermore, children benefit from special visitors, such as the fire brigade, dentists and farm animals. These valuable learning experiences further promote children's personal development superbly.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to more effectively plan group activities to include all children who want to take part
• provide more consistent messages to children about the importance of making healthy choices in relation to food.