The Alphabet House Nursery Schools

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Friendly staff and the welcoming manager greet children as they arrive at the nursery. Children separate from their carers with ease. Young babies approach staff for cuddles and reassurance. Staff respond with warmth and kindness. As a result, children demonstrate that they feel happy, safe and secure in their care.

Leaders have high expectations for all children and deliver an ambitious curriculum. For example, staff build on children's interests in animals and insects by planning activities that promote children's language, mathematical and physical skills. Staff regularly praise children. This helps to build children's self-esteem. Staff use gentle reminders about behavioural expectations, such as using 'kind hands'. Children listen and follow instructions. As a result, they learn how to behave well. All children make good progress in their learning.

Staff place a high priority on developing children's communication and language skills. Staff speak clearly and repeat new words. Young children babble and practise using single words. Older children progress to talking confidently in sentences and sharing their ideas. Staff use a 'book of the week' to plan interesting activities that motivate children to engage and learn. Consequently, all children show a love for books and stories.

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

• Staff plan a wide range of fun activities and experiences that interest and challenge children. For example, older children learn about different feelings and how to regulate their emotions through breathing techniques. This supports their personal, social and emotional development.
• Children are motivated to explore and investigate, and, overall, they show good levels of curiosity and concentration. However, some parts of the day are not as well organised to ensure that children remain focused and engaged. For example, during group activities, some children find it difficult to maintain their interest, and quieter children, while happy, play alone and are not encouraged to join in.
• Staff support children to be independent in their daily routines. Toddlers become helpers at mealtimes. Older children confidently know how to meet their needs. For example, after water play, they actively seek to change their own clothes when these become wet. This helps them to develop the skills they will need for later life.
• Lunchtime is well organised, and children enjoy hot, nutritious, home-cooked lunches. Children eat independently, serve themselves and often ask 'more please'. They learn how to brush their teeth in the baby room and know what foods keep them healthy.
• Staff know their children well and the way they settle and nurture babies starting nursery is a real strength. They plan the environment with children's interests in mind and the baby room environment is a real highlight, with special cosy areas, sensory resources to enhance exploration, and family photos to make children feel at home.
• Children are polite and use good manners. They show respect and tolerance towards one another. Staff help children to learn about similarities and differences to help them to value their own unique qualities.
• Staff have experience in caring for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They understand the importance of working closely with other professionals in education and health to provide a consistent approach to support children's learning.
• Parents speak highly of the staff. They say staff are very warm, friendly and approachable. Parents praise the systems in place for communication and the progress that their children make.
• Leaders have devised effective methods of monitoring and promoting staff well-being, providing additional support where necessary. Leaders conduct regular appraisals with all staff to identify areas of development. Staff have access to various online and face-to-face training opportunities to enhance their knowledge. However, methods of coaching are not yet robust enough to enable staff to independently identify and address areas to improve their practice.
• Leaders are dedicated and passionate about improving outcomes for children and being part of their community. They have a clear vision of the strengths of the setting and what they would like to improve next.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the organisation of group activities to ensure that all children are consistently well supported
• enhance current methods of coaching and mentoring to support staff to identify areas to improve their practice and raise the quality of teaching to a consistently high level.