Stebbing Green Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident and curious. The inviting outdoor area provides many opportunities for them to investigate a range of natural resources. Young children explore what happens when they pour water through funnels and excitedly watch it fill the bucket below. Staff provide useful words, such as 'full' and 'empty', to extend their understanding and vocabulary.

Children freely move around, both inside and outside. Staff are attentive to children's cues and interests. As a result, children often spend quality time with one adult, who uses these moments to build on individual children's learning. For example, children sit in a small playhouse and are supported to re-enact a story about a crocodile brushing his teeth, using a puppet and relevant props. Skilful interactions encourage children to make predictions and work things out for themselves. They know that 'static' helps a balloon stick to the ceiling and guess how long it will stay there. Staff place a timer so children can watch the numbers and see if their guesses are successful.

Children show they have a depth of knowledge and eagerly demonstrate what they know and can do. They mix coloured water and describe the mixture as 'translucent green'. Older children challenge themselves on large climbing equipment. They are aware of how to safely dismount and remind their friends how to jump down.

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

• The strong leadership team create an environment where children and adults are equally valued. As a consequence, there is a stable, well-established team who know the children and their families well.
• Leaders reflected on changes introduced during the pandemic. They have adapted and maintained aspects that they found beneficial. They recognised that parent partnerships were negatively affected when parents were not entering the nursery. Therefore, they are now welcomed in to collect their children to share more detailed information with their child's key person.
• Staff spend time getting to know their key children before they move up to the next room. This contributes to smooth transitions and helps form firm foundations for trusting relationships. There is a clear progression as children move through the nursery. They have the opportunity to practise and grasp the skills they need in readiness for their next stage of learning.
• Children's well-being is at the heart of practice throughout the nursery. Staff sensitively help children to identify their emotions and settle disagreements. Older children negotiate and happily decide to share their resources. Children show high levels of independence. Despite this, they do not all have the same opportunities to develop their self-help skills. For example, meals that meet dietary requirements are already portioned out so children are unable to practise serving themselves.
• Staff sharply focus on developing children's speech and language skills. Books and sharing stories play an important part in the nursery curriculum. Children are developing a rich vocabulary. They listen to one of their favourite stories and suggest alternative words for 'bigger', such as 'humungous' and 'enormous'.
• Babies and toddlers are cared for in a warm, caring environment. This helps them to feel emotionally secure. Staff effectively support babies' physical development. They encourage 'tummy time' to strengthen babies' core muscles in preparation for sitting and crawling. However, some aspects of the routine do not always work as well in practice. The youngest children sit at the table for longer than necessary before lunch is ready and some become unsettled.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are exceptionally well supported. Their key person works closely with parents and other professionals to maximise each child's potential. Additional funding is used to effectively enhance children's experiences. As a result, all children make progress and are able to play an active part in the nursery.
• Parents enthusiastically praise the staff team's commitment and dedication. They feel their children have benefitted by developing, for example, their social skills and a love of reading. They comment that support through the pandemic went 'above and beyond'.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve consistency in how practitioners support all children to develop their self-help skills
• review and improve the lunchtime routines so that children do not wait too long for their meals to be served.