The Butterfly Patch

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children have strong relationships with staff and feel safe and secure at the nursery. Babies in particular receive a strong start to their early education. Staff in the baby room have high ambitions for their development and provide a nurturing and supportive environment that respects and values children's rights and wishes. For instance, staff seek permission before lifting children and count with them before putting them down. This helps very young babies understand what is happening next and, as such, they settle down quickly into the next activity.

There is a broad, continuous provision of resources available for children to explore. For example, they enjoy digging in the sand or playing in the role-play kitchen, using open-ended resources to develop their imaginative play. Children are keen to learn and are beginning to understand how to share and take turns. There are rules in place, such as 'listening ears' and 'walking feet', which, in general, staff remind them of when they forget what is expected of them.

All children are taught to develop a love for books, stories and rhymes. Staff share books throughout the day, both indoors and outside, often in dual languages. Very young babies can recognise pictures in their favourite books and try hard to pronounce complex words such as 'triceratops'. Older children enjoy learning about food from around the world, such as prawns in paella from Spain. They recall holidays that they have taken with their families where they also speak Spanish. This helps children to make links in their learning and understand that books are also sources of information as well as fiction. This strong focus on supporting children's communication and language skills helps support their good progress in all areas of learning.

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

• There are plans in place to strengthen the curriculum particularly for pre-school children. However, at present, staff are not always clear about the best way to teach different skills to children. Some staff struggle to identify what skills are best taught through more structured activities and which can be best supported as children play independently. In addition, the new curriculum as not yet been established and shared with staff and parents. Therefore, its impact on children cannot be assessed until it is fully embedded.
• Staff promote children's communication and language well. They get down to the children's level and interact with them warmly. They ask questions and hold sensitive discussions that support their personal, social and emotional well-being. For example, children who are worried about their move to school are reassured about all the things to look forward to and have their worries acknowledged. They are given strategies of how they might manage these. This helps support children's transitions, promotes their resilience to managing change and provides them with the language they need to understand and express their feelings and emotions.
• Staff support and encourage all children to be independent. For example, older children pour their own drinks, serve their own food and scrape their plates. Very young babies are able to feed themselves. Children are learning to be self-sufficient in their self-care. This supports them well for their next stage in learning.
• Staff are positive role models. They are kind and treat children with respect. For instance, they find their comforters before putting children down to sleep and seek permission before changing their nappies. Using visual prompts for children who have additional needs or speak dual languages to help understand what is being asked of them. This contributes to children's positive behaviours, and they develop a sense of security.
• The provider has arrangements in place to work in partnership with multi-agency professionals and parents. These support staff to implement strategies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children with SEND are supported to fully access the curriculum and make progress to close gaps in their learning.
• Partnerships with parents are a strength. The provider and the staff make all families and children feel valued and respected. Parents share examples of the good progress that their children make, particularly with regards to their communication and language, and personal, social and emotional development. Parents say that their children's confidence levels have 'sky-rocketed' since attending the setting. They are able to confirm the provider's robust security arrangements for the collection arrangements for children and the procedures for recording and reporting of accidents and illness, demonstrating how well parents are kept informed about their children's care.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the curriculum and support provided for staff to understand how to implement it consistently and effectively.