Small Wonders Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy. Staff are proactive to support children's emotional security and well-being. This is the cornerstone for staff interactions in this setting. Staff are incredibly caring, kind and gentle. To illustrate, babies quickly fall asleep when they receive cuddles and affectionate reassurance. They are comforted by friendly, nurturing and sensitive interactions from staff. Equally, older children are frequently heard laughing and giggling as they play, illustrating their intense enjoyment in the setting. Staff help children to regulate their feelings well. They talk to children calmly and clearly to help to resolve any conflicts. Children learn right from wrong and are encouraged to share and be polite. For instance, children are delighted to explain who has been awarded 'star of the week'. Praise and positive reinforcement works well to develop children's good behaviour.

Children are eager and excited to get involved in the range of exciting and fun activities offered. Staff try their hardest to make learning fun and exciting. They invest significant time and effort preparing impressive games, which are imaginative and inspiring. For instance, children enjoy exploring sensory dough. They use intricate tools to cut the dough, practising their coordination and concentration. Older children enjoy small responsibilities. For instance, 'handwash helpers' and 'lunchtime helpers' put cups on the table and encourage peers to wash their hands. Taking on small responsibilities helps to build children's self-confidence and independence. Children enjoy books, they choose stories, look at images and talk about the illustrations on the pages. Children turn pages with excitement, enthused about what will happen next in the story. Some children use magnifying glasses to carefully look at the print, tracing the letters with their fingers. Children show a love for literacy from an early age. This is a busy and fun nursery, where children are settled, happy and enjoy their learning.

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

• The manager, deputy manager and senor leadership team have a clear vision for the setting. Leaders are incredibly hard working, motivated and aspirational. This positive determination, coupled with a clear, honest and detailed action plan, helps to drive improvements. The quality of care and learning provided for children is good and consistently improving.
• Children's unique personalities are nurtured in this highly inclusive setting. Children are encouraged to share their views and opinions, be themselves and are supported to grow into confident, self-assured individuals. Furthermore, children are resilient. They frequently hear statements to reinforce their self-esteem, such as 'you are strong' and 'you are beautiful'. In turn, children are self-assured and happy.
• The curriculum is designed with clear intent, to nurture 'happy, healthy, self- confident and independent children'. All staff understand the principles and foundation of the curriculum design. This collective ownership among the staff team helps to ensure consistency to benefit children.
• Staff complete simple and effective observation and assessment procedures. They make good use of this information to plan activities tailored to children's needs and interests. Staff are skilful teachers, however, at times during group activities, less confident children do not fully benefit from quality adult interactions.
• Children are becoming confident communicators. Staff talk to children and use narration during play to extend vocabulary and speech. However, sometimes staff do not use questioning effectively to engage children in two-way discussion and dialogue, to extend their good communication skills even further.
• All staff benefit from a varied programme of professional development opportunities. Peer observations, regular appraisals and frequent training helps to develop skills and knowledge. Leaders support all staff, including less experienced staff, to become confident professionals.
• Staff work well as a team. They are respectful towards each other, share information and delegate tasks between themselves. This good teamwork helps to ensure children's needs are quickly met.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents receive frequent updates from staff about their children's progress to help promote a joined-up approach to children's learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop their interactions with children and extend children's good communication skills even further
• strengthen teaching to include all children, particularly less confident children in group activities.