Shepherds Hill Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children clearly feel safe, happy and secure in this high-quality, child-orientated nursery. They confidently leave their parents at the door and excitedly enter the nursery in anticipation of their day. Children form exceptionally close bonds with staff, who are extremely attentive to their individual needs.

Children have excellent opportunities to access fresh air, green space and exercise. Children can choose whether they would like to play outside or indoors. Staff place a strong emphasis on children's well-being. Children learn about healthy eating and enjoy nutritious and balanced home-cooked meals.

Children develop a love of nature and the natural world. For example, they grow sunflowers and runner beans in the nursery 'kitchen garden' and marvel at the solitary bees that have taken up residence in the bee house. Children learn about birds who visit the outdoor play space. They use reference posters to identify different birds and tell the staff, 'that is a robin.'

The manager and staff supported children and families extremely well during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, they filmed each other reading children's favourite stories and singing sessions and posted the videos onto social media. This ensured that children and their families kept a strong bond with the staff. This practice has been embedded into the nurseries routine and parents say how they look forward to the daily posts, photographs and news.

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

• The extremely skilful staff ensure children have opportunities to learn and practise mathematical skills in unique ways and in every aspect of their play. For example, staff take children to the nearby corn field where they use rulers to measure the corn. As the corn grows taller children decide they need tape measures as the rulers are not long enough. This means children gain a greater depth of understanding about number and measurements. In addition, children are challenged to find out how many objects they can fit into a matchbox. Children very excitedly show the inspector how many gems and stones they have collected from the sand pit.
• The setting is led by a highly competent manager and deputy manager, who have an uncompromising commitment to improving the children's learning experiences. They place a strong focus on providing training opportunities for staff, such as supporting them to complete early years qualifications. They give constructive feedback for improvement and model high-quality teaching. As a result, the quality of education across the setting is outstanding. Staff say that they feel highly valued and supported in their role by the manager and other colleagues.
• Top priority is given to children's emotional health and well-being. Staff help children to understand their feelings and emotions. When children feel cross, staff sit alongside them and calmly acknowledge how they are feeling. These skilful interactions enable children to find their own ways to deal with their emotions and they are very soon back engaged in effective play and learning. For example, when two children want the same toy, they ask a member of staff to put on a timer and decide collaboratively who will have the toy first. They then willingly swap when the timer goes off.
• The manager and her team place the utmost importance on understanding and supporting the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They work extremely closely with other professionals and parents to establish highly focused support and ensure staff understand how to best support their individual needs. As a result, all children make incredible progress and are extremely well prepared to move on to their next stage of learning, including school. Staff work closely with parents and partners in education and health to put consistent strategies in place to support children's learning and development.
• Staff provide excellent support for children's developing communication and language skills. Their interactions with children are thoughtful, timely and sensitive. Staff use innovative techniques to enable children to learn to concentrate. For example, staff select small groups of children to take part in specific activities such as 'bucket time' where children learn to be patient and listen to specific instructions. Children benefit from a curriculum that their key persons have meticulously designed to ensure they are inquisitive and resilient and develop a thirst for knowledge and a love of learning.