Rosedene Easterside

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children benefit from a wealth of highly stimulating learning opportunities in this welcoming nursery. Staff have created a wonderful learning environment, both inside and in the large outdoor space. Resources and activities are carefully planned to promote children's curiosity. Babies show considerable levels of concentration as they engage in sensory play. They watch with interest and then copy as staff show them how to use different musical instruments. Older children work together as they hunt for insects. They confidently explain to the inspector the best places to look for them. They use magnifying glasses, books, and pictures to help them to identify what they find. Children persevere as they work out how to open different bottles and jars as they mix magic potions. Staff encourage them to use their imaginations to make up stories as they play. These experiences help children to build on their confidence and to develop a real love of learning.

The importance of ensuring children feel safe and secure is evident throughout the nursery. Carefully planned visits help new children to settle and to form attachments with staff. All staff know the children and their families incredibly well. They are highly attentive to children's needs, recognising when they need reassurance or support. At the same time, they are highly skilled at encouraging children to do things for themselves. The youngest children's physical development is promoted as staff allow children to try to crawl out of the sandpit. Toddlers are carefully supervised when they decide they want to see what happens when they ride their tricycles down a slope. Older children show real focus as they practise cutting their own fruit. Children's behaviour is excellent, and the atmosphere within the nursery is calm and purposeful. Staff treat children with genuine kindness and respect.

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

• Managers lead the staff team with real passion and commitment. They recognise that the staff are the most important resource within the nursery. Staff are valued and given plenty of opportunities to develop professionally. The team work together to reflect on the practice within the nursery, and to consider ways to enhance it even further. This helps to ensure that children receive the highest quality of care and learning.
• The curriculum has been designed to ensure that children are always being prepared for their next stage in learning. Managers have a very secure knowledge and understanding of child development. They work with staff to make sure that all aspects of the nursery provide opportunities for children to make progress. Staff recognise the importance of giving children time to practise and embed the skills they learn, as well as introducing new experiences.
• The nursery is highly inclusive. Managers are quick to identify children who may need additional support. They then work with parents to identify strategies they can use in nursery and at home to help children's development. Liaison with other professionals, including staff in local schools, is exceptional. Parents of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities remark on the nursery as being 'life changing', because of the support provided to themselves and to their children.
• Staff take full advantage of spontaneous opportunities to develop children's mathematical knowledge and understanding. When babies start to build towers, staff start to introduce appropriate counting vocabulary. Pre-school children show an interest in wooden numerals in a display. Staff questioning helps them to arrange these in order, and to identify what comes before, after and in between the numbers they find.
• There is a strong focus on promoting children's communication and language. Learning is sequenced effectively to support children to become increasingly confident in their speaking and listening. Books, rhymes, and stories play a key part in this. Children have access to a rich selection of books. These are attractively displayed, often next to relevant activities, such as books about diggers next to the construction area. Children readily seek out staff to share a book with them.
• Children's good health is promoted effectively. Meals and snacks are well-balanced. Children take pride in growing vegetables in their allotment. Managers recognise the importance of working with parents in relation to children's oral health. There is plenty of space outside for children to enjoy fresh air and exercise. Staff remind children about staying hydrated and supervise them as they practise applying their own sun cream.
• The nursery has established strong links within the local community. Visits to a local care home are identified as being particularly valuable for children who do not have elderly relatives. Children enjoy attending sessions at the local library. They celebrate a wide range of different festivals and special days, often including parents in these events. For example, they sent home recipes, resources, and ideas to help families enjoy national picnic day together.
• Parental feedback is overwhelmingly positive. They value the feedback they receive as they pick up and collect their children, and through the nursery app. They describe how the nursery has supported their children to blossom and flourish.