The Co-operative Childcare Watford South

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery provides an exceptional service in which every child is highly valued. Children thrive in this stimulating nursery, where they are free to play, explore, imagine and learn. The manager and staff encourage concepts of kindness, courtesy and respect for others. They are superb role models and are very calm, patient and kind. Children enjoy opportunities to be involved in the community. For example, they frequently visit a local residential home, where they have wonderful opportunities to engage with the older generation. They begin to learn empathy and become caring, confident children.

Children benefit from a wealth of exciting and stimulating activities and play opportunities. Babies delight in the superb sensory experiences available that encourage their investigative skills exceptionally well. Toddlers thoroughly enjoy water play and proudly demonstrate how they can transfer water from one utensil to another. Staff continually use mathematical language, such as 'full' and 'empty'. They skilfully extend children's learning by explaining how they can compare the different amounts of water by using the numbers on the side of the measuring cylinder. Pre-school children delight in experimenting with torches. They put their hands in front of the lights and excitedly demonstrate how they can make shadows with their fingers. Children have the best possible start to their education and are superbly prepared for their future learning at school.

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

• The manager and staff create a rich and exciting curriculum, tailored precisely to each child's interests and learning needs. Staff use excellent observation, assessment and planning systems to understand the uniqueness of each child and fully support their learning.
• Staff provide children with an excellent foundation on which to build their future learning. The exemplary settling-in procedures ensure that every child begins their nursery life in a positive way. Children form extremely warm and loving relationships with their key members of staff, which help them to feel emotionally secure.
• Staff highly value children's views and accommodate their ideas for activities within the educational programme. For example, a 'children's council' has been set up to give children the opportunity to choose activities and resources. This helps to ensure that children are extremely happy and well motivated.
• The nursery holds a silver award in the 'Green Flag Eco-Schools' programme. The programme represents the ethos of the nursery, including social responsibilities and the importance of protecting the world around them. Children on the 'eco board' meet up monthly to discuss ways of looking after their environment, including 'litter picking' and turning off the lights when they leave the room. Children are actively encouraged to be respectful and contribute positively to society. They collect food items for the local food bank and raise funds for many charities.
• Children have access to a wealth of books in all areas of the nursery, including outdoors. They enjoy listening to stories and often take home a story sack to share with their families. The nursery environment is rich in print, which helps to develop their early literacy skills.
• Children learn excellent practices for a safe and healthy lifestyle. They enjoy a varied range of nutritious meals and snacks, freshly prepared by the nursery chef. All staff are aware of children's dietary requirements. They give high priority to children's health, safety and well-being. As a result, children are nurtured and exceptionally well cared for. Children love to be out in the wonderful nursery garden, which is full of exciting and interesting spaces. Babies enjoy using their own outdoor space, where they can explore the environment safely.
• Parents are valued partners and are very enthusiastic to share their views of the nursery. They describe the manager and staff as 'amazing'. Staff keep parents extremely well informed about their children's learning through an online app. Parents receive regular newsletters and they appreciate the excellent ideas for activities to support their children's learning at home.
• Children benefit from a wealth of valuable opportunities to enrich their experiences. Older children have been learning about 'people who help us'. They thoroughly enjoyed the visit from a dentist. This prompted many exciting activities, including pretending to be a dentist in the role-play area. During a visit from police officers, children have great fun trying on their handcuffs and speaking on their walkie-talkies.
• The management team has excellent systems in place to provide high-quality supervision, training and guidance to support all staff. The manager regularly monitors staff performance and the quality of teaching. This works well in celebrating the outstanding practice in the nursery, as well as identifying areas for development. Excellent self-evaluation means that the manager is continually extending the service the nursery provides for families and children.