Sparthfield Happy Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff understand and deeply value the importance of developing meaningful relationships with children and their families. Staff forge strong relationships based on a mutual understanding, kindness and respect. This helps every child to connect emotionally to their carers. Children's strong emotional security enables them to fully engage in, and take control of, their learning with great enjoyment. Consequently, children are self-assured, positive and ambitious in all they do. The close attachments staff make with children enables them to fully understand each child's unique needs and interests. Staff accurately identify all areas for development and facilitate new learning in a personalised and exciting way. As such, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make excellent progress and reach their potential in this superb nursery.

Staff provide children with a very well-considered curriculum that is broad and varied. Staff create a relaxed, yet predictable environment and dependable routines that help learning to unfold. This unhurried approach means that children have the time and space to understand more about their learning. Over time children's understanding of ideas and concepts builds to give a very secure knowledge and capabilities in all of the prime areas of development. Staff gently support children to learn to behave with the utmost respect for themselves and others, by promoting the nursery 'responsibilities'. Children consistently demonstrate that they are emotionally and physically, happy and healthy.

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

• The dedicated leader has implemented an efficient self-evaluation process which helps her to ensure the service is continually evolving and improving. Through well-planned coaching and mentoring, she has helped staff to both understand and deliver her vision for exceptional quality education and care.
• All staff have developed advanced interaction skills. As a result, staff intelligently adapt their responses to children during activities to be in tune with their needs, abilities and interests. Children benefit from consistent, personalised and expertly-timed interactions that support their rapid learning and development.
• The leader has a precise curriculum focus on the development of speech, language and communication. Staff plan and implement effective language learning. They use strategies such as extending language and asking open-ended questions. Staff take note of children's newly-learned vocabulary. They share this with parents in unique ways, so that children's language acquisition is promoted at home. Furthermore, staff are excellent language role models. This supports children to become eloquent and powerful communicators.
• Staff are highly skilled in encouraging and supporting children to develop physically. They carefully construct the environment and learning opportunities to provide appropriate physical challenges. For instance, babies delight in learning how to step on and off risers. Toddlers move with creativity as they swirl ribbons while dancing. Pre-school children leap from fallen trees and learn how to negotiate woodland areas as they take part in forest school sessions. These experiences help children to refine their coordination and motor skills as well as develop confidence and enthusiasm. Children develop the motivation and physical competence to take part in physical activities for life.
• Staff prioritise and facilitate children's emotional awareness. Staff read books about mental health and invite children to talk about how daily experiences make them feel. Staff help children to consolidate their learning as they understand more about the variety of feelings humans experience. Children are enabled to learn strategies to help them, and others cope with their feelings. For example, pre-school children coach their friends to breathe in and out to help them feel calm. Children develop the attributes of emotional intelligence and demonstrate this in their consistently positive attitudes and behaviour.
• The provision for children with SEND is highly supportive. The special educational needs coordinator works with staff, parents and external agencies, such as National Portage Association (NPA), to ensure that all children receive the right support at the right time to help them make swift progress. Children with SEND are fully included in the provision which enables them to thrive.
• Staff have the highest trust in children and allow them to do things for themselves. This helps children to feel empowered and encourages appropriate independence. For instance, staff notice that children have spilt milk as they pour their drinks. They offer kind reassurance but allow children time to solve the problem themselves. This intelligent support increases children's resilience and ability to think critically. Children become autonomous learners.