St George's Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children have warm and trusting relationships with staff, who are kind and caring. Babies build strong bonds with the staff who care for them. They smile with delight as they have a cuddle and share textured books with staff. Children demonstrate they feel happy, safe and well cared for. They develop good levels of confidence and self-esteem and a willingness to try new activities. For example, toddlers develop their physical skills as they climb into the pirate ship. Pre-school children explore mixing paint and eagerly talk about the colours they have made.

Children become independent learners. Staff have a progressive plan for children to develop skills for life. For example, in the baby room, children learn to feed themselves from an early age. They continue to develop these skills as they progress through the nursery. Pre-school children learn to independently take care of themselves and make friends so that they are ready for school. Behaviour in all rooms is good as staff are clear about their expectations. Children including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) develop a positive attitude towards learning. The dedicated special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) plans support for children to ensure they receive the help they require.

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

• Children benefit from a broad curriculum covering all areas of learning. Staff use dedicated reading areas, both inside and outside, to encourage children's literacy skills and love of books. Children enjoy listening to stories being read aloud and recall favourite their characters, such as Goldilocks. They mix sand and water and talk about it being like the porridge in the story. Children hear adults modelling mathematical language, such as 'full' and 'empty' as they play in the water with jugs and bowls. They enjoy making friends as they make up games together in the role-play area. This ensures children enjoy learning in different ways.
• Staff monitor children's development well. They make good use of assessment and use it to plan children's future learning goals. Staff communicate this information to parents with ideas to further support children's development at home.
• The staff use children's interests to plan activities while introducing them to new ideas and experiences to broaden their knowledge. The managers are aware that, at times, staff could extend the activities they plan to stretch children's development even further.
• Staff help children to learn new words. They model naming vocabulary to babies and use sounds and pictures to explain what words mean. However, sometimes, the quality of interactions with older children are not fully effective to extend children's communication skills further. For example, staff do not consistently model age-appropriate language or use strategies to further develop children's speech and language skills.
• Children's behaviour is good. Staff are kind and respectful in their interactions with children. Consequently, children learn to understand the age-appropriate boundaries at the nursery and develop peer-group relationships. For example, toddlers share pretend food in the role-play kitchen and wait for their turn to use the microwave.
• Children enjoy home-cooked meals at nursery, with a range of nutritious and healthy foods. They have access to fresh drinking water. Children develop healthy eating habits and have good manners.
• Partnerships with parents and other professionals involved in children's care are good. Parents speak very highly about the staff. They say the nursery's online application provides them instant information about their child's learning and development and staff have excellent relationships with their children.
• Children have opportunities to enjoy new experiences. Staff teach children about the world in which they live. They celebrate festivals and learn about respect for different cultures. Staff use movement to music to start the day to focus children's thinking.
• The managers coach and mentor staff to support them in providing the best care for children. They use supervision and appraisal meetings to plan how staff can continue to improve their practice. Staff are supported to undertake a wide range of training opportunities linked to their specific work and responsibilities. For example, staff working with babies have completed training to extend their understanding of how babies learn and develop. The SENCo has completed a course to aid her work and further improve the additional support she offers to children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on how activities for toddlers and pre-school children are planned to ensure they aim to provide ambitious and challenging learning opportunities
• develop how staff support older children's communication and language skills further through consistently high-quality interactions alongside children's play.