St George's Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children develop a love of learning in this welcoming and inclusive nursery. They form close relationships with staff. Children arrive confident and eager to learn, demonstrating that they feel safe and secure. Their emotional needs are supported by staff, who are attentive and caring. For instance, children confidently seek out staff for reassurance and cuddles. Children behave very well, knowing that staff are nearby to support them if required. Staff use praise and encouragement to promote children's behaviour. As a result, children listen well to staff as they develop an understanding of others and positive social interactions. Staff encourage children's imaginations and creativity. For example, children enjoy making 'meals' in the mud area and serve them to staff and their friends.

Leaders plan a meaningful curriculum based on each child's needs and interests. This ensures that all children, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their development. Staff have high expectations for what children can achieve. Throughout the nursery, children are active learners and engage in a variety of interesting activities. Staff encourage children to develop their physical skills and manage their own risks. Children develop their physical skills. For instance, they use scooters with increasing confidence to navigate obstacles and ramps.

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

• Overall, the quality of education is good. Children have access to a rich variety of interesting resources and activities, which inspires them to be curious. Staff establish what children know and what they need to learn next. This ensures that children's next steps in learning are individual to their ages and stages of development. However, staff do not always allow children time to process what is being asked before moving on to the next question. This means that children do not always have opportunities to develop their problem-solving and thinking skills.
• Staff support children to follow good personal hygiene routines. Children remember to wash their hands before eating food, confidently managing the steps of handwashing independently. Staff discuss the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle, discussing, for instance, the foods that are healthy. However, at times, opportunities for all children to further develop their independence in managing their personal needs independently are not consistent.
• Staff use the outdoor space effectively to teach children about how things grow. Children have planted a variety of different vegetables, such as lettuce and tomatoes. Children show pride in their achievements as they confidently name the plants and discuss how they care for them. These experiences help to give children a sense of responsibility as they learn how to care for plants and grow fresh, healthy foods to eat.
• Staff make effective use of working partnerships with other professionals and external agencies to ensure that all children make expected progress. Staff identify children who need extra support and plan accordingly. For example, staff implement recommended strategies to support children at the setting. Consequently, children benefit from effective support that is tailored to their individual needs.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents feel supported and informed about their children's learning and development. They receive regular updates about their children's time at the nursery through a range of communication tools. Parents report that they receive regular opportunities to take part in activities held at the nursery, such as picnics and Father's Day celebrations.
• Staff skilfully introduce children to a rich variety of language through stories and songs. Children eagerly join in with songs that they know and demonstrate a positive attitude to learning new words. Staff read stories with enthusiasm, which captures children's attention. Younger children excitedly join in with the actions as staff sing their favourite songs. This helps to support further their skills in developing their listening and attention skills.
• Staff talk about how much they enjoy their roles and comment that they feel well supported by the manager. Leaders ensure that all staff take part in regular training and self-reflection. This allows them to improve on and enhance the teaching provided for children. Staff discuss how attending training on outdoor learning has enhanced their understanding, and they proudly comment on how this impacts on their practice with children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's understanding of how to extend children's communication, speech and language even further
• build on opportunities to extend children's independence to the highest level.