Small Wonders Nursery, Pre-School and Forest School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly welcomed as they arrive. They eagerly discuss their interests and recent experiences with the friendly staff who greet them. Children appear confident, secure and engaged throughout the nursery. Staff build strong relationships with children. These relationships help to inspire children's learning and development. Children of all ages are confident and motivated. They are supported to develop their vocabulary through skilful staff interactions. Children expand their understanding and use of new words. For example, staff discuss the process of making bread during a play dough activity. Children then use words such as 'yeast' and 'dough' when describing their 'sandwich'. Babies and younger children are supported to develop vocabulary through strong staff interactions and focused songs and stories.

The staff know the children well. They readily identify the next steps in children's learning and offer new experiences and activities. The curriculum is ambitious and sequenced to focus on children making the best possible progress. Children with special educational needs and /or disabilities (SEND) are provided with excellent support. Staff know children's individual needs and ensure these are met during activities and interactions. Staff consistently praise children's efforts and achievements. As a result, children play happily alongside each other and develop a strong sense of well-being.

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

• The special educational needs and disabilities lead is experienced and knowledgeable. She has good relationships with agencies that offer support to children with SEND. She implements agreed focused targets and strategies for children. Staff swiftly recognise children with additional needs and ensure timely support, which ensures they make the best possible progress.
• Staff expand children's interests and previous experiences. For example, they follow children's interest in aeroplanes and flying. Children are encouraged to learn about various aircraft. They look at images with staff using an electronic tablet and join in discussions.
• Staff work closely with parents to find out what children already know when they start nursery. They use this information and their observations to plan varied learning experiences. These experiences help children to make good progress in their learning.
• Staff place consistent emphasis on encouraging children's positive behaviour. They encourage children to wait to take turns and learn to negotiate the use of resources. Therefore, children learn to behave well. Older children are considerate of their friend's needs, opinions and wants. Younger children build good relationships with friends and begin to understand staff's behaviour expectations. For example, babies are encouraged to use 'kind hands'.
• The staff have formulated strong relationships with parents. Parents speak highly of the nursery and comment on the high quality of care staff provide. Parents also discuss the considerate support that staff offer them. They are happy with the information from staff that they receive daily.
• Management and staff offer an ambitious curriculum for all children. Staff take children on extra activities outside the nursery to expand their learning. For example, pre-school children attend weekly swimming lessons to enhance their physical development. Children also visit a local pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins and a Christmas tree farm to look at the Christmas trees growing. These extra activities are carefully planned by staff to offer children more varied learning opportunities to strengthen their life experiences.
• Children and staff enjoy warm interactions. Staff strongly focus on two-way communication and encourage children of all ages to communicate and vocalise. Children with speech and language delays are supported by staff to use simple sign language and visual aids to enhance their communication. This helps children's speech to develop swiftly and as fully as possible.
• Staff produce detailed plans to identify and plan support for children's next steps in learning. These are based on their observations of children. Staff provide support and ensure children are busy and keen to learn through resources and activities. These activities motivate children's engagement and involvement in their learning.
• Overall, staff skilfully expand children's understanding and interactions. However, during group time activities, children's levels of engagement are sometimes interrupted by staff. Children are asked to leave the group to go and wash their hands in preparation for lunch. This impacts on children's motivation to complete activities that they are fully enjoying.
• Staff recognise the need to develop children's independence and self-care skills. Children of all ages are supported by staff to develop their independence in a variety of ways. Babies confidently attempt to feed themselves at snack time, and older children self-serve their drinks and snacks. These skills develop children's independence, ready for future learning.
• Staff support children to use tools with increasing control. Children learn to use scissors independently to make snips during an activity. This aids children to acquire small-muscle skills in readiness for future writing.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's planning of group times to enable all children to take part without interruption.