Skylarks Nursery and Out of School Care

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery provides children with excellent foundations for their future learning. Children thrive and are happy at this stimulating nursery. There is a family feel throughout. Children's independence is extremely well promoted. They wash fruit for snack and carefully cut it by themselves. They freely access drinks from jugs stored in the fridge and carefully pour into their cups. Children frequently talk about keeping hydrated on this hot summer's day, and are learning how to keep themselves healthy.

Children's behaviour is exceptional. They learn how to show respect and to value each other, as staff consistently model good manners. Children appreciate and take care of their environment. They confidently talk about the recycling bins and what items go in which bin. Children enthusiastically tidy up at the end of the session. Everyone is fully involved in preparing for mealtimes. Children patiently wait their turn to bring chairs in at lunchtime and queue for wipes to clean the tables. Children's levels of confidence and self-assurance are very high.

Staff's meticulous planning supports children to become highly motivated thinkers and learners. Children mix their own paints and explore the textures of the powder and water with their fingers. In the home corner, children decide to make a cake. They follow the recipe and use real ingredients to mix. To support these experiences, adults consistently extend learning through exceptionally high-quality interactions.

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

• Leaders are visionary and have created a nursery that has children at the heart of everything they do. Highly effective self-evaluation helps them continually improve quality. Excellent teamwork makes the very best use of individual staff strengths. The passionate staff continuously develop their skills and knowledge. As a result, children access the highest-quality teaching, and opportunities for learning.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is exceptionally experienced and knowledgeable. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive high-quality support and intervention from the outset. The SENCo works tirelessly with parents and other professionals to support children so that they access their full entitlement and additional funding when eligible. The setting is extremely inclusive and offers a curriculum that ensures all children access rich learning experiences. This ensures that all children are being given the opportunity to achieve and make the very best start in life.
• The meticulously planned curriculum is focused on the children's needs and interests. It is embedded throughout the environment so that children are consistently accessing high-quality learning experiences. Staff thoughtfully place resources in the environment which create awe and wonder. For example, old-style telephones and typewriters stimulate rich discussion and encourage children to explore how things work. Children also learn how to use real-life equipment in the home corner. Consequently, children are making excellent progress in all areas of their learning.
• Following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, children's communication and language is a specific area of focus for children's learning in the nursery. Staff are working tirelessly to further develop their skills to strengthen teaching in this area. Therefore, children engage in consistently high-quality interactions. Staff skilfully model and extend language, taking into consideration each individual child's developmental needs. They extend discussions by encouraging children to speculate, test ideas and recall previous learning. As a result, all children are making significant progress in their communication and language development.
• Staff facilitate and enable children to find solutions to problems. Their critical thinking is very well supported. For example, a lunch table is sloped after children have put the legs on. A group of children enthusiastically discuss what the problem is. An adult skilfully extends this learning, and asks, 'I wonder how we can fix it'. Children busy themselves and persist in trying to fix the table. They cheer in delight once the problem is solved. Children are developing resilience and know how to resolve issues through discussion and teamwork.
• The manger and staff inspire children to achieve. They visit children at home before they start nursery. This develops a holistic approach to supporting children, and develops secure partnership working with parents from the outset. Staff know their families extremely well. Parents speak highly of staff, who 'go above and beyond'. Parents are continually updated on their child's progress and know children's next steps. Parents feel listened to and know that their views matter. They are frequently asked to offer feedback to support the nursery in further developing the quality of care they offer to children.