St Elizabeth's Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children from diverse backgrounds attend St Elizabeth's Nursery. They arrive happily and settle in quickly. This is because there are strong relationships between children and staff. Children respond positively to cuddles and reassurance from staff. They show they feel safe and secure at the nursery.

Staff set high expectations for children's learning and behaviour. For example, they expect children to develop a wide vocabulary to enable them to communicate effectively. Children engage in a variety of meaningful and stimulating activities, in and out of the classroom. They particularly enjoy painting and exploring malleable materials, such as dough and sand. Children grow in confidence and develop strong self-esteem as they learn new skills. For example, they show increasing competency as they test their climbing, jumping and running skills outdoors.

Children show strong independence skills. For instance, they take age-appropriate responsibility for their own needs, including toileting. Children's behaviour is good. They listen and follow instructions well. Children take part in various cultural and religious festivals, such as Chinese New Year, Diwali and Easter. This teaches children about similarities and differences between people in their community. Children have positive attitudes to learning and are motivated to play.

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

• The manager leads the staff team by example. She is a passionate, committed and dedicated leader. For example, during the lockdown periods, she has worked with parents and committee members to keep the nursery open. This helped to minimise the disruption to children's learning.
• Staff observe and assess children's progress regularly. They support children, including those with additional needs, to make rapid progress in their learning. For example, children who are at an early stage of learning English catch up quickly in their language development.
• Staff interactions with children are good. They spend time talking and playing with the children. However, at times, staff do not make effective use of questions to challenge children's understanding and solve problems for themselves. This does not fully extend children's thinking skills.
• Children are beginning to show an interest in early writing. For example, older children have a good go at writing their own name. However, staff have not fully considered how to promote and extend children's emergent writing skills.
• Staff promote children's healthy lifestyles well. For instance, they provide children with plenty of opportunities to exercise and have fresh air. In addition, staff are consistent in ensuring children wash their hands before handling food to prevent the spread of germs and infections.
• The manager offers staff good levels of support and professional development. For instance, following training, staff have enhanced their knowledge of how to identify and refer children who might need additional support. This has had a positive impact on children's learning and development.
• Staff make good use of their skills to provide children with a broad and balanced curriculum. For example, they incorporate numbers, counting and shapes into a wide variety of activities. Children gain a strong awareness of mathematical concepts. Staff invite specialist professionals to the nursery, such as a music teacher to enhance children's experience.
• Parents are highly complimentary of the manager and staff. They particularly praise how well staff care and nurture their children. Parents find that the daily communication allows them to follow the activities their children undertake. This strong partnership has a positive impact on children's learning at home and in the nursery.
• Staff work successfully with other professionals to secure strong support for children and their families. This is particularly beneficial for children with delayed speech and separation anxiety.
• Children behave well. They are polite and play harmoniously alongside or with their peers.
• The self-evaluation process is evident. The manager continues to evaluate the quality of the provision to identify strengths and areas for improvement. She is currently reviewing the outdoor space to better support children who prefer to play in the natural environment.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make more effective use of opportunities to extend children's understanding and encourage them to find solutions to the problems they face during their play
• increase staff's knowledge of how to extend children's emerging interests in early writing.