Rosedene Egglescliffe

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this warm and nurturing nursery. The strong bonds established by staff help children grow into confident, happy individuals. Babies look to their key members of staff for reassurance and are responded to warmly, with plenty of smiles, cuddles and songs. Babies delight in these stimulating interactions. Older children show pride as they receive praise and encouragement for joining in with challenges, such as trying different yoga poses.

Leaders are clear about what they intend the curriculum to achieve. Staff utilise the outdoor and indoor space to deliver the aspirational curriculum and ensure that all children, from the youngest babies through to the oldest children, are supported appropriately for their stages of development across all areas of learning. The carefully planned environment ignites children's curiosity and results in high levels of engagement and perseverance.

The nursery describes itself as a family, where fostering genuine, caring relationships between staff, parents and children is paramount. There is a wealth of support offered to families, and this has a powerful impact on children's well-being and overall development. Positive behaviours are promoted by staff through gentle, calm discussions and support. As a result, children learn to develop skills to take turns, share and find resolutions when needed.

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

• Leaders are very clear about the intended curriculum and they ensure that staff have a thorough understanding of the intended knowledge and skills that they are teaching. As a result, the interaction between staff and children is purposeful and relevant to the age and stage of each child. Children are very engaged and show high levels of interest and determination in the activities they choose to take part in. For example, children practise their balancing skills when using the obstacle course.
• Staff and leaders use their close observations and assessments of children's interests and levels of development alongside their robust understanding of child development, to plan the nursery environment and activities. As a result, children are utterly absorbed in the wide range of learning opportunities around them. For instance, babies delight in using a variety of tools to transport sand and soil around the garden. Staff are consistently on hand to support and extend children's knowledge further, for example, by supplying new words to help widen children's vocabulary.
• When planning what it is they want children to learn, staff consider the individual background of every child that attends. This means that children are receiving a bespoke curriculum, which is adapted to meet their personal needs.
• Stories, songs and rhymes are planned for, and children have the opportunity to revisit their favourite stories frequently. As a result, children re-tell these favourites word for word, demonstrating high levels of confidence and expressive language as they do so. This supports children with a range of early literacy skills, preparing them extremely well for the transition to school.
• Staff focus on teaching children good personal care habits such as hand washing. Support for potty training is effective and children progress well in their independence in toileting. Mealtimes are treated as a time to develop excellent table manners and conversation skills, with staff joining in and acting as positive role models. As a result of the carefully considered approach, daily routines are calm and effective, with all children eager to join in, while demonstrating excellent behaviours.
• Parents are extremely positive about the impact that the nursery has had on their children and on family life. They feel the nursery staff go above and beyond to provide holistic support and, as a result, their children are extremely well settled and happy here and are making great progress, particularly in their communication, social and physical development.
• Leaders understand that some children may have vulnerabilities, such as special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), meaning they need extra care and attention to ensure they thrive in the nursery. Where this is the case, appropriate strategies and programmes of support are swiftly embedded to ensure that these children make excellent progress. This includes liaising with a range of outside agencies to access specialist support.
• Where children receive additional funding, this is used appropriately to support the specific needs of those children. Children are making very good progress because of the carefully planned support, which has been put in place by staff.