Sunflower House Nursery Wentworth

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are eager to start their day at this nurturing nursery. They demonstrate they feel safe and secure as they leave their parents with ease and explore the engaging environment with staff.

Overall, leaders and staff plan an interesting curriculum to excite children and ignite their curiosity. As such, children demonstrate high levels of independence in their play. Younger children confidently access activities and take the lead in their own learning. For instance, they concentrate as they scoop rice with spoons into various containers. This helps them develop the small muscles in their hands for later writing. Older children actively work with staff as they use a chart to search for minibeasts on a bug hunt. Children are active in their learning as they move items to search for various insects. Staff use these opportunities to introduce new vocabulary to children, such as 'crane fly'. Furthermore, staff gently remind children to be gentle as they look underneath items. This helps children learn how to care for their environment and develops their knowledge of nature and the world around them.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. They are warm and sensitive in their interactions. Children receive an abundance of praise from staff as they learn to take turns with their friends.

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

• Staff use every opportunity to promote early counting with children. For instance, children use magnifying glasses to see and count the legs on a spider, as they search for bugs. Staff encourage children to count the towers they build. This helps children to develop their early mathematical skills.
• Staff teach children about healthy lifestyles. They encourage children to wash their hands before meals and after using the toilet. Staff talk with children about the benefits of healthy foods and regularly remind children to drink water. This helps children build healthy habits for the future.
• Mostly, the curriculum for communication and language development is implemented well. Staff respond positively when children use familiar words, offering encouragement and praise. For example, staff use pretend telephones with children as they play and encourage conversations. However, staff do not always build on these interactions to extend language for children who speak English as an additional language as effectively. As a result, not all children are fully supported to develop their communication and language skills.
• Staff deployment is good. They communicate well and work closely together to ensure that children are supervised during play. Staff use ongoing risk assessment to ensure play areas are safe and suitable. They teach children the boundaries when they play outside. This helps children learn how to keep themselves safe.
• Staff teach children to identify and talk about their feelings using resources, such as pictures of happy and sad faces. This helps children to build on their emotional awareness of others and supports their good behaviour.
• Staff observe children's learning and monitor their progress. They plan activities based on children's interests. This includes providing experiences for children to make marks in trays of flour and creating patterns. However, sometimes the intent of activities is not clear. This means that staff are unsure of what it is they want children to learn. That said, children enjoy the activities and are keen to take part.
• Partnership with parents are good. Staff work hard to develop relationships with children's parents. Parents speak fondly of the care and education their children receive. They describe the strong communication through daily hand overs and parent meetings and how this helps them to continue their children's development at home.
• Leaders are passionate and dedicated to providing the best service to children and families. They supervise staff effectively through regular meetings to discuss their progress and relevant training. Staff have completed training to broaden their knowledge of how to support children's behaviour. This helps them draw on a range of strategies. Staff report that they feel very well supported in their role.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• adapt the curriculum for communication and language development, particularly for children who speak English as an additional language
• support staff to have a clear intent of what they want children to learn during planned activities.