Spring - Highfield

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident and happy during their time in the inviting nursery. Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of their curriculum and how they support children to enjoy learning. There is a strong focus on developing children's independence from being babies. Staff in the under two's room focus on teaching children to feed themselves using a spoon. Older children pour themselves drinks and serve their own food. They learn how to put on their shoes and coats. This is all part of getting children ready to start school.

Children are keen to join in with the interesting activities that staff carefully plan for them. For example, staff teach children about different vegetables. Children persevere as they attempt to cut up the vegetables in the home corner. Staff demonstrate how to safely use a knife. Children learn to take account of each other and show care and consideration. For instance, children pass a sharper knife to their peers when they see them struggle with a plastic knife. There is a lovely calm atmosphere throughout the nursery. Children follow rules and boundaries and behave well. From a very young age staff teach them the importance of sharing.

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

• Management have been successful in implementing the new curriculum since January this year. The curriculum constantly evolves to meet the needs of the children that attend. There is a strong focus on developing children's communication and language. Any additional funding is spent well to meet children's needs. For example, one-to-one support is provided where needed. The provider has invested funding in staff training that is aimed at children who need help with talking and understanding words. This helps staff to bridge any gaps in children's communication and language development.
• Self-evaluation is a key strength of the nursery. Management and staff continually evaluate what works well and what can be done better. For example, they identified that children's fine motor skills were not developing as well as they should. Staff have developed their knowledge and understanding through training that links to early mark-marking strategies, indoors and outdoors. They have then implemented their new knowledge when working with children.
• The nursery has worked hard to develop an exceptional partnership with parents. They seek parents' views through questionnaires and act to address anything that parents think they can do better. For example, they now update parents weekly on what children have enjoyed doing in nursery. Parents speak positively about how they are kept up to date each day through the online application that is used. They like that they can do their own observations and share these with staff. Staff also let them know how their children are progressing and what they can do at home to extend their learning.
• Children enjoy time in the outdoor areas. Children over two years old can choose when they would like to play outside. They practise their physical abilities and problem-solving skills. For instance, in the water tray they work out how much water they need in a jug to make a toy boat float down a ramp. However, children currently do not have access to outings in the local environment, where they can explore and learn about the community.
• Staff promote children's communication and language well. They use lots of repetition of words with children during their play. They use words linked to size with children under the age of two years, such as big and small. In the two- to five-year-old room, staff do experiments with the children. They ask children what things smell like and what do they think will happen when the bicarbonate of soda is mixed with vinegar. Children are excited when they realise that it makes bubbles.
• Staff promote mathematics into everything they do with children. For instance, children count how many spoons of bicarbonate of soda they need. With children under two years of age, staff model counting as they count how many pieces of ice there are in a tray when it breaks up. Children develop mathematical understanding that is appropriate for their age.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop opportunities for children to explore and learn about the local environment.