St Jude's Church Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settle well in this nursery. Staff quickly get to know them and their unique personalities, developing secure, nurturing bonds with all children. Children delight in seeking out staff for comfort, praise and play. The manager and her team have worked hard to make the necessary improvements since the last inspection. They have taken time to reflect and make improvements to the delivery of their curriculum. As a result, children have access to a broad and varied curriculum that incorporates children's own interests. From the moment children arrive, they quickly become engrossed in a variety of experiences on offer and sustain interest in their play.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. As such, children behave well. Staff continually model good behaviour, set clear expectations for children and support them to resolve any minor conflicts swiftly. Children display kindness towards their friends. For example, young children invite friends to join them as they sit sharing books. They move up and make room for their friends to sit on the soft seating, repositioning books so they can all see. Older children independently access water play. They attentively help each other put on aprons, thanking each other in return. Furthermore, they remind each other to be careful because the floor might be slippery where they have been transporting buckets with water. This demonstrates how children are learning to keep themselves, and others, safe. These skills contribute to children's future success.

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

• The manager and staff have worked together to ensure the curriculum consistently meets the needs of individual children. Staff have been given further support to help them successfully plan and provide meaningful, and appropriately challenging, learning experiences. They precisely plan for children's individual next steps. Staff know the children well. They know what skills children have already learned, and what they want to teach them next. This enables children to make the progress of which they are capable.
• The manager has strengthened processes in place for regular staff supervision sessions to support their ongoing professional development. As such, staff receive targeted training and coaching to improve their personal effectiveness in their roles. For instance, staff working with children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are given Picture Exchange Communication System training to enhance their knowledge and confidently support children attending. However, some staff, particularly with the younger children, are not always as confident to provide consistently high-quality interactions as others. This does not always extend children's learning as fully as it could.
• Generally, children's communication and language are well promoted. Staff narrate children's play experiences and introduce new words such as broccoli and magnetic. Staff are enthusiastic as they engage children during song and story times. Children intently listen and are eager to join in with familiar phrases. Staff hold back-and-forth conversations with children, asking purposeful, thought-provoking questions to find out what children know. However, on occasion, some staff do not always give children time to pause, think and respond to their questions. This means children do not always have time to process information and share their ideas or thoughts.
• All staff at this nursery value diversity and pride themselves in offering an inclusive environment to all families. Children who speak English as an additional language are supported very well by staff. Staff who share children's home languages use them throughout their day. They skilfully use English alongside their home language. This contributes to children quickly beginning to use English words to communicate. They delight as they hear their home languages spoken and are confident to practise English words with staff. This builds children's confidence in an environment where they feel valued and included.
• Staff incorporate maths into everyday activities and introduce mathematical language into children's play. For example, younger children enjoy counting how many scoops they use to make sandcastles. Older children work together to find out which side of the scales has 'less' or 'more' in, working out which is 'heavier' or 'lighter'. This supports children's mathematical development.
• The support in place for children with SEND is excellent. Staff ensure that children with SEND get the support that they need early on. They work closely with external professionals and parents to ensure that personalised support plans are working for each child. Staff supporting children with SEND are extremely receptive to their wants and needs. These children are supported to make superb progress.
• Parental partnership is of great importance at this nursery. The manager and her staff are devoted to reaching families within the local community. They place an emphasis on valuing each family's uniqueness. The manager considers how they can support families. For example, they offer a 'lending library' so parents/carers can regularly share books with children, as well as a 'community table', where families can freely access everyday essentials. Parents speak highly of the nursery and staff, reporting their children are happy and making good progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the coaching and mentoring of staff further, especially those working with the younger age group, to ensure that all interactions and experiences for children are of equally high quality
• support staff to consistently recognise when children need more time to explore and develop ideas for themselves to challenge their thinking skills even further.