St Agnes Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily enter this exciting and interesting nursery. They develop strong relationships with their key person, and confidently leave their parents at the front door. Children practise their early literacy skills. They identify the pictures on their pegs and register themselves into the setting. Children demonstrate their confidence and independence as they move around the nursery. They lead their own play and make decisions about what they want to do. For example, children decide that they want to have a wedding. They invite others to join in and together they make hats and crowns for the wedding. Children demonstrate consistently positive attitudes to their learning.

Children show high levels of confidence in social situations. They invite the inspector into their play and demonstrate how to make a wand. Children behave very well. They are kind and compassionate towards their peers. For example, when children are too shy to join in group activities, other children hold their hand and give them encouragement. Children develop a love of books and listen intently to stories. Staff introduce new vocabulary and children use these words throughout the day. For example, staff explain the word 'magnificent'. Children then use this word to describe their favourite objects.

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

• Parents speak very highly of the staff at the nursery. They value the excellent communication, verbally each day, and through an online app. Parents comment that staff are 'amazing' and 'awesome'. They explain that staff have their children's emotional well-being at the forefront of everything that they do. Parents feel fully involved in their children's learning and feel that the nursery staff are part of their family.
• Staff embed mathematics throughout the day. They encourage children to hunt for shapes around the nursery. Children cheer as they identify shapes and tick them off their list. Staff introduce words such as 'hexagon' and 'oval'. They weave numbers and counting through all activities. This helps children to gain a good understanding of early mathematics.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. The special educational needs coordinator works collaboratively with parents and other professionals. She creates learning plans to meet each child's individual needs. As a result, children progress well.
• The manager and her deputy are extremely passionate and ambitious. They have very high expectations for staff and children. The manager and her deputy are an excellent support for staff. They provide robust supervision sessions to ensure that staff have good support and their workloads are manageable. Staff attend regular training and share their learning with the rest of the team. Staff's well-being is paramount and their morale is high. They report that they feel valued and well supported by the leadership team.
• Children work collaboratively. They play alongside each other, sharing resources and taking turns. For example, children help their friends to measure and cut the correct lengths of tape. Children are busy and highly motivated to learn. They persevere when facing difficulties. For example, children keep on trying as they build a pretend cave for a bear. They work together to connect the tarpaulin, pegs and foam bricks.
• The quality of teaching is good. Leaders know what they want children to learn. Staff follow children's interests and weave them into activities. For instance, children have fun experimenting with dough and coloured sand. However, some staff are not specific enough about the intent for activities. This means they do not always focus on the key skills they want children to achieve. For example, during a large-group activity, staff do not use the opportunity to add new vocabulary, to teach children new words and their meaning.
• Staff plan meaningful activities that help to support children's physical development. For example, children have opportunities to develop their small-muscle skills through activities, such as dough gym, gluing and sticking, and pouring fine sand through sieves. This helps to develop children's large- and small-muscle skills. Furthermore, children carry out 'mindful yoga' sessions. This helps to develop balance, coordination and helps children to relax and self-regulate.
• The nursery provides children with a rich set of experiences that promote an excellent understanding of the wider world. Children benefit enormously from learning about other cultures. Staff introduce Chinese New Year and Black History Month. They discuss how children have different features and families. Staff explain how children are individual and unique. Furthermore, staff introduce stories and resources to children to help them understand the wider world around them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on staff's knowledge of the curriculum intent, so that they are clear about the skills and knowledge which they want children to gain from all experiences.