St George's Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, safe and content at this welcoming nursery. They are greeted at the door by friendly managers and staff, and eagerly explore the environment as soon as they arrive. Settling-in sessions are adapted to meet the needs of all children to support them to develop a good relationship with their key person. Babies look for their key person as they play, for reassurance. Staff know children well and understand their care needs. They use their interactions to develop children's emotional well-being and self-esteem.

Staff support children's learning and development well. The curriculum provided offers challenge and stimulates the interests of children. Children are keen to get involved in the activities on offer and show positive attitudes to learning. Children demonstrate positive behaviour and get on well with one another. Children develop a good range of independence skills during their time at the nursery. For example, babies use spoons to feed themselves and toddlers wash their own hands and pour their own drinks.

Staff are sensitive to children and work closely with parents to ensure there is a continuity of care from home. Parents are complimentary about the service they receive and comment positively on the regular feedback they get from staff about their child's day.

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

• The planning of the curriculum helps children to learn new skills. Managers and leaders have worked with staff to create and implement a well-sequenced curriculum. Staff use their observations of children's play to support their assessments of children's abilities and help them identify what children need to learn next. They have a good knowledge of children's interests and use this knowledge to create appealing play activities for them. However, staff do not consistently implement the curriculum for mathematical development to build on the older children's knowledge and skills.
• Staff provide a well-planned, safe and stimulating environment for children. They create dedicated areas that reflect children's interests and encourage them to continually develop in all areas of learning. For example, children have space to jump in a pretend rocket ship as they re-tell a favourite story. Children use colanders as space helmets and look for stars as they fly into space.
• Staff promote children's language skills by modelling language and pronouncing words clearly for children to hear. They use sign language and visual cues to support children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to make progress in their communication skills. However, staff do not consistently adapt their interactions to support younger children to use their communication skills. For example, although staff model language for children to hear they do not always support children to use the language they know and put words together to describe objects.
• Staff encourage children to develop their independence skills. At mealtimes, children confidently serve their own food. They spoon pasta onto their plates and choose the salad they would like to eat. Staff support older children to put on their own coats before going outside to play, to prepare them for their eventual move to school.
• Children enjoy being active in the outdoor area and develop their physical skills. They run, balance and climb with staff close by for support as they learn new skills. Children have a range of mark-making opportunities, indoors and outdoors. This helps children to develop the strength in their muscles for early writing.
• Staff encourage children to talk about their feelings, which helps to promote children's personal and emotional development. Older children know and understand the nursery rules. Staff offer clear and consistent reminders to help children learn the expectations of behaviour and boundaries.
• Parents speak positively about the nursery. They comment about how staff make children feel welcome and how approachable they are. Parents talk about how staff help to meet children's needs and how online systems enable them to see information about their children's development.
• Staff feel that the leadership team supports them. They can access further training and have regular supervision meetings to discuss their well-being and professional development. Staff have engaged in training to consider how they meet individual children's needs, including those with SEND.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to deliver the curriculum for mathematics more effectively to build on children's understanding of number and counting
• help staff to strengthen their interactions with younger children to support their early communication skills.