St. Andrews Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show that they have strong, close relationships with staff and know that staff value them highly as individuals. Staff take time to get to know children well and use this knowledge to provide activities that they enjoy. Children settle well.

Children engage in a variety of stimulating activities. For example, staff teach them about weight as they put objects onto scales. They teach children to count securely and to recognise numbers. Children learn about their feelings and those of others. For instance, staff give children mirrors to observe their faces and talk to them about different emotions. Children then paint pictures of themselves or other things that represent different emotions, including rainbows to show happiness. Children learn to share and to take turns well. For instance, they take turns as they play group games organised by staff. Children learn to accept and respect difference. For instance, staff talk to them about special cultural and religious celebrations, such as Eid and Chinese New Year. Children enjoy books containing multicultural characters. Staff have high expectations of children. They manage children's behaviour effectively. For instance, they use praise and reward to promote positive behaviour and share group rules. Children behave well.

The curriculum is broad and balanced and builds on children's learning. Children learn useful skills in preparation for school.

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

• Staff plan activities that build on children's experiences and skills. These are securely based on regular assessments of children's progress and on areas of learning. Staff challenge children appropriately to help them make good progress.
• Children have good physical skills. For example, they balance on logs, climb across frames in the garden, run, jump and hop. Staff teach children how to skip using a rope. Children develop good hand muscle control, for example by using paintbrushes and crayons when they draw pictures.
• Staff support children's communication and language development well. For instance, they have 'bucket time' where children select interesting objects from a bucket. Staff talk to children about the object, ask them questions and teach them new words. Children also learn new words as they sing action songs and rhymes. Staff use such experiences effectively to develop children's language and concentration skills.
• Children have good early literacy skills. Staff provide letters and sounds focus groups for children where they learn about letters and the sounds they make. Staff read a range of interesting stories to children. They extend children's learning well. For example, children go on a trail around the garden to find things that the Gruffalo story character found in the story. Staff use such opportunities well to support children's early literacy development.
• Staff support children's understanding of the world successfully. For instance, they take children on a bug hunt around the garden. Children have picture sheets of insects to identify. They really enjoy finding and naming different insects. Staff plant and grow vegetables and herbs with the children as part of helping them to learn how things grow.
• Staff support children's creative development effectively. For instance, they provide many sensory activities where children explore the textures of different foods and materials, such as oats, glitter and wheat. Children use scoops to fill and empty containers, which further supports their small-muscle skills.
• Staff work successfully with parents. They give parents daily feedback on children's care, activities and progress. Staff also run parents' meetings to keep them informed of children's progress. Parents have very good opportunities to support children's learning. For example, they enjoy following a programme of home activities from a communication and language scheme to carry out with their children.
• The manager supports staff well. For example, each member of staff has time out of the nursery to write up plans and assessments. The manager meets with staff individually to discuss workloads and well-being, and provides support where needed. She also discusses their training needs. Staff have attended several courses, including a course on oral hygiene which led to improvements in this area.
• The nursery provides children with healthy snacks. Staff teach children about the nutritional benefits of eating healthily. Staff promote good oral hygiene for children.
• Not all children have the same level of choice about where they want to play and learn, particularly in relation to indoors and outdoors, to support the children who learn best outdoors.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop more ways for children to choose where and when they want to play and learn, particularly to support children who learn best outdoors.