Seahorse Nursery Wimbledon Park

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and relish the time which they spend at this warm and friendly nursery. They show that they feel safe with the kind and nurturing staff. These warm relationships are evident throughout the nursery. Younger babies receive lots of cuddles, smiles and reassurance, which support them to settle quickly. Older children snuggle close to adults, and enjoy their interactions with the fun and enthusiastic staff.

Children show a good attitude to their learning. Older children love discussing stories and news articles. For instance, they speculate their ideas and work together, such as to decide how to free the dinosaurs from the 'jail'. Babies enjoy their time making marks with various tools, which helps to develop their small muscles in readiness for practising their early writing skills. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress in their learning and development, ready for their next stage of learning.

Children behave well and are respectful towards one another. They patiently wait their turn during activities. They listen carefully, follow simple instructions and are learning to keep themselves safe. For example, all children know that they must hold the handrail when navigating stairs.

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

• The dedicated management team recognises the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on staff, children and their families. They kept in regular contact with them via messaging and video calling services. Staff shared home-learning tasks and routines during the pandemic. This helped parents to continue to support their child's learning and development at home. When children returned, staff focused on their social and emotional skills. This helped children to settle back in quickly.
• Leaders place high priority on staff's well-being. Staff comment that they are happy at work and feel well supported in their roles. They benefit from regular well-being and supervision meetings. These include prioritising time for professional development to help staff to build on the skills, which leaders plan to develop further.
• Staff support children's speech and language development effectively. They teach children basic signs to help them to communicate before they can confidently express themselves verbally. Younger children eagerly sign 'please' and 'more' during snack time.
• Leaders develop their curriculum based on children's interests and what they need to learn. Staff plan a range of good quality activities. These include a forest school, tennis lessons and a school readiness programme. However, occasionally, some staff's interactions with children do not fully extend their learning to help them make even more progress.
• Children are independent and enjoy helping to carry out simple tasks. Babies sweep up sand from the garden floor. When they come back indoors, they remove their shoes by themselves. Older children set the table and confidently use tongs to serve their meal. Staff teach children to understand how healthy practices contribute to their good health. For example, children wash their hands, wipe their faces and talk about the importance of keeping their teeth clean.
• Staff support children to develop resilience and equip them with the skills and confidence to keep on trying. Even the youngest children persevere. For instance, with encouragement from staff, toddlers persist until they have mastered the use of syringes during water play. This contributes to their understanding of cause and effect.
• Staff adapt their practice and provision to effectively protect children in extreme weather conditions. For example, in high temperatures children are cared for in cooler parts of the building. Staff use fans safely and remind children to drink plenty of water.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents report positively that they are grateful for the support received from staff. They highlight the 'genuine sense of community' within the nursery. Staff carry out home visits to get to know children and their families before they join the setting. This helps parents to build trusting relationships with staff before their children start.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• raise the quality of staff's interactions with children to a consistently higher level to help children make even better progress.