St Cuthberts Old School Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff place children at the heart of everything they do in this nursery. Children build strong and supportive bonds with their caring key persons. Staff understand the children's personalities and what makes them unique. Children run into the setting with confidence and enthusiasm, ready to start their day. Staff demonstrate exceptional skills to ensure that all the children feel happy and secure. Children settle quickly. They are kind and considerate towards their peers. Children share and take turns as they work together to build a tall castle. Older children help younger children as they climb on the outdoor climbing frame.

Nurturing staff model to children how to be kind and respectful. Children learn how to be caring and thoughtful of each other's feelings. Children benefit from a range of experiences. They are encouraged to explore the world around them through their senses. For instance, they learn about sea creatures as they splash around in the water. From planting seeds and plants in the garden, the children have grown their own strawberries to taste. When children need a calming space, they have the opportunity to regulate their emotions in the sensory room. Children are making good progress in all areas of their learning and development.

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

• Leaders create a reflective ethos within the nursery. For example, staff regularly reflect on each other's practice to evaluate how they could further enhance experiences for children. Training opportunities for staff to improve their skills are vast and staff embed what they have learned into the setting. This helps staff to continuously improve outcomes for children.
• Children flourish in a language-rich environment. Staff teach children new vocabulary and support them to recognise and read well-known signs. They ask children thought-provoking questions. For instance, when staff observe children persevering to try and make an object float, they use this opportunity to encourage children to think critically and problem-solve. This supports children to develop positive attitudes towards their learning.
• Staff promote equality through rich experiences. Parents say that children beam with excitement about their nursery celebrating the same cultural celebrations as they do at home. Staff take the time to get to know children's families and learn about their home lives and cultures. They are highly considerate of children's views. Staff expertly model care and respect, and children mirror what they are observing. Children are well prepared for the wider world.
• Staff support children's knowledge of mathematics. For example, they promote children's understanding of size by comparing trains of different lengths. Staff count with children as they scoop up soil in the garden or build with bricks. Children confidently work out how many objects there are when another one is added or taken away. Children develop their understanding of early mathematical concepts.
• Staff use every opportunity to support children's emotional development. They have created an environment where children feel safe and secure to express themselves. Children communicate their emotions, and the staff spend time talking to the children about how this makes them feel. Children are developing their confidence and resilience effectively.
• Children show pride in their achievements. The leaders have created books for children where they can choose which arts, crafts and photos they want to display. Children's faces light up as they share these with their friends in the book corner. This helps children develop a sense of belonging.
• Staff encourage children to engage in group activities to prepare them for school. Children sing and dance to music. They eagerly sit down as a group to listen to stories. However, on occasions, experiences last too long and children become disengaged from the learning intention. This does not always support children to develop high levels of involvement.
• In the main, the implementation of activities for children is good. Staff provide experiences to explore the children's interests. However, planned activities sometimes focus more on the learning outcomes for the children as a group, rather than the individual children. On occasions, this does not incorporate children's specific next steps to help them build on past experiences.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff focus more precisely on individual children's next steps when planning experiences for children
• review the organisation of group times to ensure that children's attention is fully engaged throughout.