Sunflowers Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders are perceptive to children's individual circumstances and life experiences. Their vision is shaped by a clear priority to ensure children's happiness and well-being. This approach helps children to settle quickly into nursery and to develop their confidence and a strong sense of security and belonging. Children are keen and interested learners, who engage well in the wide range of activities on offer.

The curriculum allows children plenty of choice in their activities. Staff's good teaching skills help to ensure that all children are challenged and supported to learn during their play. Babies and toddlers thrive in a relaxed environment, where they happily play and explore. Curious and inquisitive, they work out ways to build with planks and fit tubes inside one another. Older children benefit from activities that are closely matched to their interests. For example, they make bird feeders and search for bugs under rocks and logs in the garden.

Staff are sensitive to the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on some children's learning and well-being. They have extended the range of activities to help children to develop pre-writing skills, having observed lower than expected achievements in this area. Staff have developed a 'well-being room', where children can take time out if they feel a little overwhelmed and are supported by staff to share and understand their feelings.

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

• Staff focus closely on children's personal, social and emotional development. This helps children to learn about relationships and how to manage their feelings. Young children consider others. For example, they take turns to catch pretend fish with a magnetic rod. Older children involve others in their play, excitedly showing their friends the bugs that they find.
• Children who are not reaching age-related expectations in their learning are supported well. Staff are swift to work closely with parents and other professionals, sharing focused plans to help children to catch up in their learning. This helps to ensure that all children are supported to make the progress that they are capable of.
• Parents talk about the 'peace of mind' they feel, knowing that their children are safe and well cared for. They commend the nursery for working closely with other community groups to support the whole family.
• The manager is passionate and dedicated, and staff share her enthusiasm. Staff benefit from effective support and supervision sessions. This helps staff to enhance their good teaching skills and to develop confidence. It also contributes to their high morale and excellent capacity for ongoing improvement.
• Children behave well. They develop good manners, such as when sharing meals at the table with their friends. Children follow staff's clear instructions and understand the reasons for rules and boundaries in the nursery.
• Staff teach children about how to stay healthy. Babies learn to brush their teeth, and older children discuss the benefits of nutritious food during mealtimes. Staff teach children the importance of protecting their skin in the sun.
• Staff know children well and tailor activities to match their learning preferences. For example, children who are active learners show very good problem-solving skills while making a den from sticks and fabric. At times, however, staff's intentions for children's learning are broad and do not always consider what children most need to learn next. That said, all children are supported well to learn and remember more.
• Children have excellent opportunities to develop their large physical skills. Babies step up, down and over carefully planned resources, which staff provide to challenge them to move in a range of ways. Staff help older children to identify and manage risks, and they learn to keep themselves safe. For example, older children climb and balance on the climbing frame and negotiate muddy banks and tree roots in the garden. They show very good balance, coordination and strength.
• Overall, staff support children's language development well. Some staff model new words, such as 'cocoon' and 'chrysalis', when sharing books with children, helping children to extend their vocabulary. However, this is not consistent. Furthermore, some strategies, such as the use of simple signs that are intended to support children's communication, are not used consistently.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the intent of activities to fully consider individual children's priorities for learning and help them to make even better progress
• use the strategies to support children's language development more consistently across the nursery to enhance all children's communication.