The Cheshire Day Nursery @ Winwick

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this wholly inclusive setting, where their unique needs are warmly celebrated. All children demonstrate exceptionally positive attitudes to learning and are deeply engaged in activities of their choosing. A skilfully constructed, bespoke and unique curriculum reflects children's individual needs. Staff effortlessly offer challenge, differentiation and an abundance of opportunities for children to recall previous learning and build on what they already know. Children display a real passion and thirst for learning.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff are consistent in their approach and use strategies that reflect the ages and developmental stages of children. This culminates in children being able to self-regulate superbly. For example, babies begin to identify their own emotions, while older children employ previously taught strategies to help them to calm and re-engage in learning. This means that children are ready to learn and remain highly motivated as they explore their environments with impressive confidence and determination.

Staff are acutely aware of the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, they have implemented purposeful strategies, such as language screening and 'word flowers', and placed a huge focus on children's personal and social development. As a result, children are making exceptional progress and any emerging gaps in learning have closed rapidly.

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

• Staff give meticulous consideration to children's learning environments in order to provide children a wealth of opportunities to practise their skills and extend their learning further. For example, babies explore play dough and begin to squeeze and squash the dough with their hands. Toddlers use tools to create shapes and structures, having developed their small-muscle control skills. Pre-school children operate scissors confidently, having refined the essential skills needed in their prior learning.
• Children's love of literacy is abundantly clear. Staff promote an extremely positive love of books, songs and rhymes. Children continuously select their own stories and seek out staff and friends to share them with. Enticing spaces in each environment promote countless opportunities for children to handle and engage with books.
• Staff effortlessly deepen children's mathematical awareness. This is achieved through everyday routines, where children count and problem-solve. Children explore simple mathematical equations and use mathematical language throughout their play. They excitedly discuss the size of objects, using language such as 'gigantic', and make comparisons as they sort, categorise and match quantities to written numbers.
• Staff give exceptional consideration to ensuring that children are well prepared for life in modern Britain. They support children to develop respect for different people and highly value their own uniqueness and the people around them. For example, children impressively use sign language, as staff have taught them that not everyone can communicate with the spoken word. This means that children are able to converse with their friends and build positive relationships and creates a wonderful sense of belonging. As a result, children have remarkably elevated levels of self-esteem and self-assurance.
• Bespoke transitions that truly reflect children's individual needs ensure that they are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their learning. For example, staff share detailed information about children's routines and prior learning, coupled with images of the children's new environments. This ensures that transitions are seamless and children are ready and able to continue their learning with confidence and enthusiasm.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are superbly supported. The special educational needs coordinator is extremely knowledgeable and proactive in supporting families. Staff are meticulous in their approach to working with other agencies. This means that children very swiftly receive the support they need to excel.
• Parent partnerships are robust and highly successful. This contributes significantly to the continuity in children's care and education. Parents' comments are overwhelmingly positive. They share with pride the progress that their children have made since attending and describe their experience as 'amazing' and 'outstanding'.
• The manager and senior leadership team are passionate and highly knowledgeable. Collectively, they lead an enthusiastic and dedicated staff team, who are highly driven to ensure that every child has the very best possible start in life. Staff truly benefit from a meticulous cycle of support, coaching and purposeful training. Staff well-being is given high regard. They report that they feel highly valued and exceptionally well supported. This results in an extremely positive environment, where children are very clearly at the heart of everything that they do.