Sawtry Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at this outstanding nursery. Staff plan exciting and meaningful learning opportunities for children that spark their creativity and curiosity. Children are eager to participate in group activities and demonstrate exceptional standards of concentration and focus during their learning. Babies thoroughly enjoy exploring the ice and water, finding different sea creature toys and learning new words to extend their already excellent vocabulary. Older children use coloured water to experiment with mixing colours. Staff encourage them to make predictions and test out their own theories as they mix and explore. Children's positive attitudes to learning impact on the outstanding progress and development they make.

Children's behaviour is exceptional. They understand the expectations of staff and the rules in place. From a young age, children learn to wait, listen and be kind to their peers. They share resources and learn to take turns very well. Babies play together during group activities and older children learn how to be calm and gentle with younger peers, demonstrating compassion. Furthermore, staff teach children about the consequences of their actions and how to keep themselves and others safe. Children wait their turn on the climbing frame, remembering how they could get injured if someone falls. When building and carrying large pieces of wood, staff talk to children about the weight of the wood and how it could hurt someone. They give reminders about safety and children demonstrate this well-embedded knowledge and thorough understanding during their play.

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

• Strong relationships and attachments build the foundation for children's learning. Staff take time to meet every family before children start and gather in-depth information about children's learning and development. Frequent, short visits, prior to starting, help children to gain trust and understanding as well as develop a strong bond with their new key person. In addition, staff understand the difficulties of transitions within the nursery and go above and beyond to support children as they move rooms. These close relationships and strong focus on well-being, help children to build trust and feel safe, resulting in confident and extremely happy and well-settled children.
• Staff's interactions are of the highest quality throughout the nursery. Staff use skilful questioning techniques, encouraging children to think critically and share their own ideas. They give children time to think and respond and listen carefully. Staff value children's input and they encourage children to join in. This helps children to feel valued and builds high levels of confidence and self-esteem.
• Staff are highly skilled and knowledgeable. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are extremely well supported and additional needs are identified early on in a child's journey. Referrals are made swiftly, and children receive the highest standard of intervention and additional help from other professionals. Additionally, staff prioritise parent and professional relationships, ensuring everyone is kept up to date and has an excellent understanding of children's development. In preparation for school, staff ensure children are surrounded by the best possible support to provide seamless transitions into reception class.
• Staff are thoughtful about daily routines and recognise when children are engrossed in their learning. They are careful not to disrupt children's progress, being flexible and giving children time to conclude their learning before sitting down for mealtimes or going outdoors. This demonstrates the highly skilled teaching throughout the nursery and the excellent consideration staff give to children's learning.
• Physical development is supported from a young age and children are provided with a safe environment to begin walking and climbing. As children become more able, they explore more challenging learning opportunities such as riding bikes and using large materials for building. The environment is well planned, developing children's core strength and balance as they negotiate obstacles and climb hills.
• Language development is a high priority. Young children demonstrate their excellent communication skills as they use single words to make themselves heard. Singing and reading is used throughout the day to introduce a varied vocabulary and older children engage in in-depth conversations, extending their sentences and conversational skills to an extremely high standard.
• In addition to the excellent recruitment processes in place, the management team has implemented a robust induction programme. The team works closely with staff during the first few weeks to ensure they have a good understanding of the nursery's policies and procedures. Furthermore, training needs are identified immediately, and swift action is taken to ensure staff gain the essential knowledge and skills they need. The support for staff gaining additional qualifications and training is exceptional. The management team always encourages and supports staff to gain new skills and extend their knowledge, resulting in highly skilled and knowledgeable teachers.