The Burrow

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children develop their physical skills well when they learn in the outdoor learning environment. Staff supervise children well, enabling them to take calculated risks. Children use hammers to hit nails into wood, and they climb on structures in the woodland. Children show a sense of achievement with their 'proud face' when they have succeeded. Children use their imagination to create things from the wide range of household and natural materials. For example, they make an 'octopus house' from stones and plant pots. Children enjoy pretending to be a teacher and travelling to the seaside on the train. They hold a seashell to their ear and say, 'I can hear the sea'. Children dress up and use a range of equipment, including walking sticks and a stethoscope to listen to their heartbeat.

Children comment that they like to play with their friends. They help to tend the vegetable garden and listen to instructions on how to pick the rhubarb. Children count the sweet peas, wash them and hold discussions about what they will taste like before eating them. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to learn about their powerful feelings well. All children display good behaviour, which enables them to enjoy group activities together. Children learn that they must follow simple rules, such as putting on their coat before going out to play in the rain and sharing resources with their friends.

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

• Staff provide a broad, challenging early years curriculum. The learning experiences are generally exciting and engage children, who spend long periods of time concentrating on what they are doing. Staff plan 'invitations' for children to focus on specific skills that they need to learn. Staff provide challenges for children to assess and extend their knowledge. However, on occasions, staff do not use the knowledge that they have about children's abilities to fully engage children in their learning.
• Staff support younger children in learning to follow the rules and using good manners. Staff act as positive role models. They speak with respect and care towards the children, reminding them to ask their friends to share the paint. Older children display a secure understanding of the rules in place and follow them instinctively. For example, they take off their wellington boots and hang up their coats before they go inside.
• Children are developing the skills they need to acquire for the next chapter of their learning. They learn to become independent through the daily routine. Children wash and dry their hands before snack and learn to respond to their name at register time. Children help to tidy up when their play has finished, and they make choices from the wide range of resources available.
• The management team has used their funding to improve the quality of teaching and to review and extend the resources used to support children's curiosity. They use quality-assurance schemes to review and improve the procedures in place. For example, supervision procedures have been extended to ask staff about their workload and well-being. Regular observations completed on staff identify their strengths and areas for further development. Staff complete regular training, which helps to strengthen their knowledge and improve their practice. Staff report that they feel well supported by the management team.
• Staff support children's communication and language well. They describe what younger children are doing to help them link words to actions. Children learn new vocabulary during their play, such as 'pipette' when painting and 'sweet pea' and 'rhubarb' while tending the fruit and vegetables they have grown. Staff read stories and sing songs with the children. However, on occasions, staff do not encourage all children to express themselves when responding to questions.
• Partnerships with parents and other professionals are successful. Parents comment that the nursery is 'amazing', 'accommodating' and 'friendly'. Parents confirmed that their children have settled well, despite some of the restrictions in place due the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The 'Sunday Newsletter' provides a weekly update of what the children have done and the plans for the week ahead. This helps parents to support their children's learning at home. Effective partnerships with local schools support children's transitions to 'big school'.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that all staff are clear on children's individual developmental needs in order to strengthen the implementation of planned learning experiences
• provide more opportunities for all children to express their ideas and thoughts, particularly at story time.