St Nicholas Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children particularly thrive in the outdoor area and eagerly acquire and share their knowledge about the natural world. They hunt for bugs and woodland creatures in the garden. Staff encourage them to match pictures and identify creatures that they can see in the woodland. Children discuss the different creatures they find. For example, they explain that a fox is 'red' or 'brown', and practise the noises they might make. Other children find a picture of a bee and correctly identify that bees make a 'buzz' sound. Children discuss different habitats and identify animals who live in other parts of the world, such as polar bears. They look at a globe and discuss where polar bears may live. They are developing skills to support them in their future learning, such as when they move to school.

Babies make good progress at nursery. They learn to walk on uneven ground in the garden, exploring the areas around them, and ride bicycles to support their core stability. Staff help babies to investigate as they work out that they can tap a light box to change the colours and make the lights flash. This helps the babies to learn how their actions can make things happen and engages their interest.

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

• Leaders have secure oversight of the nursery and provide effective support to staff. Staff report that they have access to all the training that they would like and that they feel well supported. Leaders focus on promoting staff well-being, and this is appreciated and acknowledged by staff. Leaders monitor staff practice and have a good understanding of what is being delivered in each room. However, they recognise that, at times, staff do not follow the overall curriculum intentions by reshaping child-led activities to sharply focus on all children's individual needs.
• Staff understand what they want children to learn next and have good awareness of their progress over time. However, they do not always use this knowledge effectively to drive children's most rapid progress. For example, they do not help some children to persevere at activities, even though they have identified that particular children need support to develop their concentration skills.
• Children show high levels of confidence. Staff encourage them to take managed risks to develop their independence. Children spend time playing hide and seek in the outdoor area. Staff use reminders of the rules. For example, when staff call 'one, two, three, come to me' children know to return. Staff encourage children to follow their own ideas as they choose to make a pirate ship with pallets. They design and build the structure using real tools, with close adult supervision.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents praise the care and attention that staff provide for their children, including any who have specific needs, such as allergies. Parents appreciate the communication that they get from the nursery staff and enjoy the suggested activities that are sent home. For example, staff share ideas for nature hunts to extend outdoor activities that take place at nursery. Children benefit from a secure key-person system and continuity between home and nursery.
• Staff support toddlers' speaking and listening skills as they play with mud and flowers. Staff name words such as 'mud' as they sprinkle it through their fingers and repeat words to help toddlers broaden their vocabulary. Staff encourage children to repeat the words of different colours when they show them flowers. Staff use words such as 'squishy' when they explore dough and children copy them. Children follow instructions to roll dough and sing 'roll, roll, roll'. They copy staff as they touch the dough to their cheeks to explore if it is cold, shivering to show their understanding of the word.
• Staff are encouraging and supportive of children. As a result, children are interested in learning and enjoy taking part in activities and experiences that help them to develop. For example, children explore books through lively story times with staff, but also readily investigate books on their own. They turn the pages and read familiar tales to themselves, returning to their favourite stories again and again.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff further to sharply focus on their knowledge of what children know and can do, to help them adapt activities as needed to promote children's best possible progress.