St. John's Nursery Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this extremely supportive setting. Children foster trusting and caring relationships with the nurturing staff who are consistently responsive to their needs and wishes. Tailored settling-in sessions ensure children, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, swiftly feel relaxed and safe, as they build attachments to their key person before they start. This child-centred approach means all children make significant progress in their academic and personal development.

Children demonstrate high levels of respect for others and play cooperatively with their peers. Children have fun, giggling with anticipation as they race two cars down the slide. Staff are excellent role models and remind children to say 'please' and 'thank you'. When children say 'thank you' to a visitor for picking up a toy they had accidently dropped on the floor, staff provide meaningful praise which builds their self-esteem and inspires them to repeat these good manners.

Staff create 'mini-me figures' by attaching laminated pictures of the children to individual wooden blocks. These promote children's happiness and sense of belonging. They love holding little versions of themselves and placing themselves at the centre of their story. This personal touch supports speech and language development as children narrate imaginative scenarios and act out real-life experiences with their peers.

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

• Indoor and outdoor environments are safe, stimulating and inviting. Resources are age appropriate and support children to make independent choices and lead their learning through play. Staff are responsive to changes in children's behaviour. For example, when children have a surge of energy and start to run indoors, staff gently redirect them outdoors. As a result, children's physical and emotional well-being is promoted through safer and more purposeful play, as children delight in jumping up and down on the trampoline energetically.
• Teaching is meaningful and staff ask questions to extend children's learning through play. For example, during a tower building activity, staff ask children how they think they can make the tower less 'wobbly'. Children try out ideas with wooden blocks, such as using a wider base and learn through trial and error. Children practise counting in sequence and build on their mathematical concepts, such as estimating, because of the interactions and role modelling from skilful staff.
• Staff communicate daily with parents and regularly share information about their child's development. Staff use information gathered from parents and robust assessment processes, to plan activities and learning experiences that build on what children already know and can do. For example, children who need a little extra support in their social and emotional development, benefit from bespoke, small group activities. Encouraging staff focus on supporting children to make friends and learn to accept the needs of others with fun, turn-taking games in a quiet and calming environment.
• The management team is highly reflective and continually strives to improve. They have excellent communication with local schools to support seamless transitions. Additionally, staff provide thoughtful and appropriate activities, such as reading stories about starting school, which further prepares and sensitively supports school readiness.
• Children demonstrate good levels of independence. They independently wash their hands with soap before eating and practise pouring their own drinks at snack time. Staff understand the importance of keeping children safe in the sun and open the awning so children can play outdoors in shaded areas. On occasion, staff recognise children do not have a hat on while playing in the sun, and swiftly put one on them. However, staff do not effectively teach children about the dangers of playing in the sun so that they become increasingly independent in their self-care needs, and are able to dress themselves appropriately for different weather conditions.
• The management team and staff ensure children's emotional well-being is prioritised. Enhanced staff-to-child ratios means when children become overwhelmed, staff immediately respond and support children to learn to self-regulate their emotions effectively. Parents applaud the caring and dedicated staff who know their children so well. They report significant progress, particularly in their children's speech and language development and know how to further their learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus on increasing children's knowledge and awareness of staying safe in the sun, to become increasingly independent in managing their self-care needs.