Snapdragons Cribbs Causeway

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff offer babies and children very nurturing and affectionate care. Staff follow home routines for personal needs, which they conduct with warmth and respect. New children are very sensitively supported to settle with caring attention from staff who build their confidence and let them explore at their own pace. Throughout the nursery, children form secure emotional attachments with the staff. They demonstrate a real sense of belonging and visibly flourish. Children behave exceptionally well. They quickly become familiar with the consistent expectations for behaviour, learning to share and take turns. This close and genuine environment is evident to all. Parents are full of praise for the dedicated staff team.

Babies' and children's self-esteem is developing superbly. They show very positive attitudes to learning. They relish the freedom to choose from a wide range of stimulating activities and inspiring resources that excite their interest and motivate them to use their skills, senses and imagination. They become absorbed as they feel soapy bubbles and show fascination as staff help them grate chalk into the water to create different colours. Older children make imaginative mixes with the sand outdoors, collaborating with their friends wonderfully. All children are making excellent progress. This includes children in receipt of additional funding and those whose circumstances require particularly perceptive intervention and additional support.

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

• Leadership and management are inspirational. The new manager's passion for her work, her high attention to detail and excellent leadership inspires her team. The drive for improvement is exceptionally well supported by the senior leadership team from the nursery's parent company. There is rigorous monitoring of all aspects, educational programmes, staff practice and children's progress.
• The extremely conscientious staff team effectively implement the nursery's clear intentions and targeted curriculum. Each child's key person diligently monitors their progress and effectively supports any developmental delays. This leads to unique targeted support, such as highly effective small group sessions to build children's listening, attention, language and social skills.
• The nursery embraces diversity. They have commendably gained an award for their work in respecting children's rights. Staff provide rich and varied experiences to broaden children's knowledge, such as a week full of exciting experiences focused on Chinese New Year. Children who speak English as an additional language swiftly become confident communicators. Staff's excellent knowledge of children's home languages significantly enhances children's understanding and use of English.
• Staff place high importance on developing children's literacy skills. Families can borrow books from the nursery's lending library. There are cosy book areas for all age groups. Babies snuggle in for a story, their understanding and speech led excellently through the responsive interactions from staff. Older children create their own stories from their drawings in innovative groups sessions, developing their story telling, confidence and imaginations superbly.
• Babies and children develop impressive independence skills for their age. Older babies toddle off to get themselves a tissue. Toddlers serve themselves food at mealtimes, pour their drinks and sip carefully from an open cup. Staff are close by to support and praise them. Older children manage much of their self-care themselves and show a very good sense of responsibility as they clear away after their meals and sweep up after activities.
• Partnership working is a central feature of the nursery's practice. Parents appreciate the wealth of information that staff share with them to help them support their children's development at home and in readiness for school. The managers give the upmost priority to working with other professionals, to implement timely interventions to enable children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to achieve their potential.
• Children have superb opportunities to develop healthy lifestyles. Outdoor areas offer children rich exciting areas to explore, to build their physical skills and strength. The nursery's full-time cook provides nutritious meals. She ensures children's dietary requirements are strictly adhered to. She also leads interesting and very useful cooking activities and older children have great fun making wholemeal bread.
• The manager leads regular in-depth supervision and monitoring of staff practice. Her dedication is evident in continuing to develop her team through an extensive programme of training and support. Staff well-being is of utmost priority. Innovative calming areas for staff, thoughtful events and special 'stars' to praise staff for their wonderful work all contribute to high staff morale.