Swanland Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle quickly in the warm and calm environment. Staff offer cuddles and reassurance to those who are new to the setting. Strong key-worker systems ensure children feel secure. Staff are extremely nurturing in their interactions with children. They anticipate children's needs and work hard to ensure children's routines are followed.

Children develop a sense of belonging in the local community. They visit the pond during daily walks, where they feed the ducks and birds. They have opportunities to visit the local residential home and church. They attend bounce and rhyme sessions at the local library.

Staff have a clear understanding about what they want children to learn. They understand the skills children need before moving on to pre-school and understand the foundations they need to build on. Staff recognise the importance of ensuring each child's individual needs are met. They adapt activities to ensure children's interests are followed. They ensure the appropriate level of challenge is given to enable children to develop and progress in their learning.

Children form lovely friendships with their peers. They encourage each other to join in play and explore the range of resources. Staff encourage children to understand sharing and being kind. They act as positive role models, and children mirror their caring interactions.

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

• Staff organise the learning environment and plan the curriculum using their knowledge of children's starting points. They use information from parents and their own observations to plan for children's next steps and adapt the curriculum accordingly.
• Children's physical development is promoted well. Children have opportunities to practise their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as they clean the cars using paintbrushes. Younger children enjoy pushing the balls down the ramps as they sit in the ball pool. Staff encourage younger children to practise their crawling and walking skills. They support them as they cruise around the furniture and practise standing for short periods.
• Staff place a strong emphasis on promoting children's communication and language skills. They describe to children what they are doing and seeing in the environment. They copy children's words, extending their vocabulary as they repeat in fuller sentences. However, at times, the removal of dummies is not quick enough to enable children to be clear in their speech and language. In addition, staff's eagerness to extend children's vocabulary does not always give children enough time to respond to questions and give them adequate thinking time.
• Children practise their pincer grip as they use the magnetic drawing pads. Staff extend early literacy awareness and mark-making skills, introducing a range of materials and tools to scribe.
• Staff demonstrate that they know children well or are working to find out more about children and help them settle. They know what they want children to achieve. Children are prepared well for moving on to pre-school. Key workers accompany them on visits to ensure they are familiar with the environment and staff. They routinely pass by the premises and wave to staff. This helps to develop their self-confidence.
• Children have opportunities to develop their independence from an early age. They wash their hands and feed themselves using spoons and forks. They know to ask for more if needed, and older children self-serve. Children are able to access their coats from their storage boxes ready for outdoor play.
• Parents are complimentary about the experiences their children have in the setting. They appreciate the level of communication from staff both verbally and on the online application, used to share information. Parents feel their children are making good progress in the setting.
• Staff's well-being is considered fully. Staff feel there is an open-door policy should they have any concerns. They feel valued in their roles and work closely with their sister setting. This contributes to a strong team that recognise each other's strengths.
• Staff, leaders and parents contribute to the evaluation of the setting. The provider has a good awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the setting and the areas they would like to improve further. This reflection enables staff to continuously make any required changes to benefit children's learning and development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop children's thinking skills further by allowing them time to respond to questions
• improve support for children to develop their speech and language by monitoring the use of dummies while they are talking.