Stephen Perse Nurseries - Madingley

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in this very welcoming nursery under the expert care of extremely caring and highly experienced staff. Leaders and staff promote a joint passion and dedication to providing the best possible care and education for all children. Children arrive happy and confident. Staff show all children they are valued and respected. They seek permission from babies before changing their nappies and allow young children to make their own play choices. Children form very close bonds with staff, seeking them out for comfort when needed and displaying very positive interactions as they play. For example, babies snuggle close to staff to listen to a story and enjoy a game of catch with a ball. Children demonstrate that they feel secure in their surroundings as they independently explore. They smile and laugh as they play.

Babies have excellent opportunities to explore and use all their senses. They are motivated to play, as activities are interesting and inviting. For example, herbal tea bags are added to water play, which gives off an array of different aromas. Children repeatedly enjoy plunging the tea bags into water, lifting them out and squeezing them tight with their hands. They are provided with resources that allow them to develop their hand and eye coordination skills as they pour water from one container to another. Children begin to form friendships from an early age, calling for their friends by name to sit with them and listen to a story being read.

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

• Highly experienced leaders positively share their ambitious curriculum with all staff. There is clear intent and high expectations of what leaders and staff want children to achieve while in their care. Leaders are highly focused on staff's continued professional development to support the delivery of high-quality teaching throughout the nursery.
• Staff interactions with children are of a consistently high quality. They talk confidently about the personalities and learning needs of all children in their care. The curriculum is carefully sequenced to ensure that staff are consistently building on what they know children can do and what they need to learn next. Staff are constantly reflecting and evaluating children's progress. They regularly share this progress with parents.
• Experienced staff place a very strong focus on developing children's mathematical skills. They help them to learn about weight and measurement and how to recognise which side is heavier and lighter on a weighing scale. Staff give children time to explore the resources and embed their knowledge. Babies are introduced to simple counting as they play and are beginning to use some mathematical language, using the word more when the water in a jug is empty.
• Children are consistently encouraged to develop their independence. They take it upon themselves to water the flowers and fetch cloths to dry toys that are wet. Children show resilience when faced with challenges, such as when their bucket of water repeatedly falls from the handlebars of a bicycle they have hung it from. They persevere and find new ways to achieve their intended aim.
• Children behave extremely well for their young age. They understand and follow the rules and routines of the nursery with increased confidence. Staff find fun and innovative ways to promote sharing and turn taking. They introduce the sharing bench, where children wait for a turn on a bicycle. When children reach the bench, they pretend to pay with pennies to be able to leave the bicycle and give the next person in line a go. Children use their fingers to represent the number of pennies they need to pay, showing that they also understand how to match numbers with objects.
• Staff are highly skilled at supporting children's language development from an early age. Staff speak warmly and clearly to babies. They skilfully foster children's listening, understanding, descriptive language and new vocabulary. Children who speak English as an additional language make exceptional progress in acquiring new language skills. Children can hear and learn other languages, such as French, from bi-lingual staff.
• Communication is constant and effective at keeping parents informed of all aspects of their children's care. Children's development and learning from home is highly valued and considered when evaluating children's progress and deciding on next steps. Parents are unfaltering in their praise for the nursery. They feel that staff enable their children to grow and thrive and cannot recommend the nursery enough.