Seesaw 1

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate that they are happy and feel safe and settled. They eagerly enter the nursery and are inspired to play and learn. Children form secure attachments with staff. Staff value children's ideas and give them lots of encouragement and praise to boost their levels of self-esteem and confidence.

The senior manager and the manager have high expectations of children and place children's welfare and emotional well-being at the heart of everything they do. They have developed an ambitious curriculum and have a clear vision for what they want children to learn as they progress through the nursery.

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are learning English as an additional language, develop their communication and language skills. Staff use images alongside words and gestures to reinforce children's understanding. They provide a narrative for children's play and demonstrate new words to extend vocabulary. Children become absorbed in activities for long periods. Toddlers enjoy bathing the baby dolls, and staff teach them successfully how to 'squeeze' basters to suck up water and 'squirt' it on the doll's head. When pre-school children pretend to be doctors and nurses, they persevere to put plasters and bandages on the dolls' injuries. Children of all ages benefit from regular singing activities and are supported well by staff. Babies delight in exploring musical instruments. Toddlers choose objects from the song box and 'have a go' at guessing the linked nursery rhyme. They show great enjoyment and control when they march, jump and dance during songs.

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

• The provider and managers are dedicated and passionate about providing a high-quality provision. Continuous reflection helps them to identify and target any areas for improvement. The senior manager implements a robust staff supervision and support programme to enhance staff's skills. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, they have focused on supporting children's social skills and positive behaviour. As a result, most children play harmoniously together in a calm environment, share and take turns. At times, some toddlers need extra support from staff to help them manage their emotions. This occasionally impacts on others' learning because they are left to explore planned activities independently and lose interest.
• Staff plan a broad range of stimulating activities based on children's interests, which motivates children to engage and achieve. The quality of teaching is good overall, but occasionally, staff do not provide older children with the right level of challenge to support their learning as well as possible. Nevertheless, staff monitor children's development effectively. They provide children with additional support to close any gaps, working collaboratively with parents and other professionals as required. Consequently, all children make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff weave mathematics into activities to help children explore numbers, shapes and measures. They support children's literacy skills extremely well in readiness for school. For example, older children learn to form recognisable letters and write their name. Pre-school children eagerly participate in a small-group activity involving letters and sounds. Staff successfully support them to recall prior learning and think of words that start with the sound 'sss'. Staff skilfully read stories in a way that captivates children's attention and encourages their involvement. For instance, toddlers confidently recall phrases in familiar stories and show delight joining in with actions as they 'hunt' for the bear.
• Staff support children's physical health effectively. Children enjoy freshly prepared nutritious snacks and meals. Staff talk to children about oral health, and older children say that they need to eat healthy food so that they 'don't get cavities'. Children benefit from plenty of opportunities outdoors that promote their curiosity and exploration, such as the 'construction site' in the tepee tent, the mud kitchen and activities to find out about the natural world. They develop their physical skills, such as riding scooters around the circuit in the garden and using a variety of media and materials to create artwork.
• Children develop high levels of independence from a young age. Toddlers eagerly set out plates and cups at snack time, butter their own bread and pour their own drinks. Pre-school children show competence as they serve themselves lunch and carefully carry their plates of food to the table. Staff work effectively with parents to toilet train children.
• Parents say their children love attending the nursery. They appreciate being welcomed into the nursery to drop off and collect children. Parents speak extremely positively about staff and the information they receive about their children's care, learning and progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review arrangements for planned activities for toddlers, to further support their learning and enjoyment
• ensure staff consistently provider older children with appropriate levels of challenge to build on what they know and can do.