Serendipity Nursery II

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Managers and staff put children at the centre of everything they do. They have worked hard to embed an ambitious and rich curriculum, which sets clear learning intentions for what they want children to achieve during their time at nursery. This is carefully planned and sequenced to build on what children already know to extend and challenge their learning to the highest level. As a result, all children flourish and make exceptional progress.

Staff support children to be inquisitive, curious and highly motivated learners. Children show immense curiosity, ask lots of questions and are excited to learn new things. They excitedly explore the activities on offer and use available resources to extend and lead their own learning. Staff show happiness in interacting with the children; there is a lot of laughter in the nursery. For example, younger children splash in delight in the water tray and toddlers cheer in excitement at the announcement they are going to the garden. Children's voices are listened to and respected, and this results in children having a strong sense of self-worth.

Staff have clear behavioural expectations of the children. They provide gentle guidance to support children to understand and regulate their emotions and behaviour. As a result, children behave impeccably. Children share resources with their friends, negotiate activities together and problem-solve to work things out. For example, children are highly engaged in an activity with scales as they work together to balance the weights on both sides, adding and taking away as required. They look on in awe as both sides of the scales reach the same height.

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

• Children are effective communicators who are confident to express their views, feelings and interests. Their home languages are celebrated and staff encourage children to speak to their peers in their home language. Children demonstrate they feel comfortable doing so by doing this independently in their play.
• Children's safety and well-being is paramount in the nursery. The leadership team takes its responsibilities for this extremely seriously and does all it can to manage any potential risks. It reflects on situations that occur and takes appropriate actions to address any concerns. Staff involve children in daily garden checks to teach them how to identify risks and support them to be aware of how to manage their own safety.
• Staff have an excellent knowledge of their key children. They demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the nursery's curriculum and how to implement this to help children learn and develop. Staff use a variety of teaching methods to support children to acquire and use language. They ask questions, narrate children's play and model conversations. Staff skilfully allow children time to think and respond, demonstrating what they know.
• The nursery works collaboratively with a range of other agencies to decide how best to support the children. Staff have regular meetings and take on board any advice and guidance they are given. They use this information to make a positive impact on the children's overall well-being, learning and development.
• Staff's well-being is a priority for the management team. They take time to learn about each member of staff and tailor their support, mentoring and monitoring of practice accordingly. For example, the manager makes informative booklets on a range of topics for staff. This approach has a positive impact on the team and all staff report feeling supported, valued and appreciated. Staff feel that communication across the nursery is highly effective, and they work as one big family to ensure the children receive the best possible care and education. Reflective practice, research and training keep knowledge and understanding of early years care and education up to date to provide children with continuous high-quality care and education.
• Parents speak extremely highly of the nursery. They would recommend the nursery to others and praise the passionate staff team who care for and educate the children. They also praise the effective communication which helps them to feel part of their child's learning and development. Parents state that the nursery goes above and beyond to offer tailored support to not only the child but their parents and wider family too.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive tailored support to help them join in with activities and they make excellent progress in their learning. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to review children's next steps, which helps them to decide what to teach children.