Teddies Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Parents, visitors and children receive a warm and friendly welcome from staff when arriving at the nursery. Staff get to know children and their families well. This helps staff to understand children's individual needs and preferences. Staff provide new children with tailored settling in sessions, giving them time to adapt to the nursery environment and to help them to feel safe.

Staff provide children with new experiences linked to their interests and next stages of learning. Babies take part in a cornflour activity. They show great concentration as they use their fingers and spoons to scoop up the cornflour. They watch with fascination as the cornflour changes texture and runs through their fingers.

Staff provide plenty of activities to support children's social skills. For example, they interact with a group of children and work together to make 'strawberry soup'. Between them they negotiate who is overseeing what task. They pour water down pipes and collect it in buckets. Other children tip the water into a large tub where other 'ingredients' are added. Together they stir and serve their soup. While playing games outdoors, staff help children of all ages to learn about being considerate and taking care of each other. Older children hold hands with the younger children and help them to count each step they take, helping them to safely join in with the game.

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

• Staff work hard to ensure that children all children's needs are met, including those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff use observations and assessments well, to identify gaps in children's learning. They work closely with parents and other professionals to access additional support, if needed. This ensures that children make good progress from their starting points.
• Mealtimes for children are calm and relaxed. Independence is encouraged as babies learn to feed themselves and older children self-serve their food and pour drinks. Staff use mealtimes to help children to develop an awareness of food allergies. Children know that their friends have a different type of cheese, so they don't get an upset tummy. Furthermore, staff are good role models. They sit and eat with children showing them how to use their knife and fork and give gentle reminders about table etiquette.
• Staff plan a curriculum based on children's interest and next stages of learning. When the curriculum is delivered well, children are engaged and make progress. For example, children excitedly participate in yoga sessions delivered by staff. Children stand up straight, stretch out their arms and balance on one leg to demonstrate the 'mountain pose'. This helps to promote children's balance, coordination and posture. That said, at times, staff overlook opportunities to challenge children's thinking and understanding during activities. For instance, staff plan an activity for children to program a robot mouse to move in different directions. Due to little direction from staff, children were unsure how to take part in the activity and quickly lost interest. Consequently, the learning intention for this activity was not effectively met.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery. They appreciate the warm and caring relationships between staff and children. Staff gather information from parents about experiences children have had before starting at the nursery. This helps them to understand what children already know and can do. While staff ensure parents know about the progress their children are making, they do not consistently share ideas with them to help with learning at home.
• Staff support children to be ready for the next stage of their education. They help children to build their confidence and to have a positive attitude to learning. Staff link with teachers to find out what they want children to be able to do before starting their transition to school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the implementation of the curriculum to effectively support children to get the most out of all learning opportunities
• provide parents with further guidance and ideas of how they can support their children's learning and development at home.