The Counting House Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this welcoming and nurturing nursery. They form strong attachments with caring and responsive staff, who prioritise their emotional well-being. For example, babies snuggle up to staff when they need comfort and reassurance. Parents say that they appreciate how accommodating the nursery is in supporting children's individual needs and care routines. This promotes consistency for babies and young children and helps them to feel safe and secure.

Babies and young children develop good social skills. They proudly show the inspector the pom-poms that they have collected using spoons and pegs, developing their small-muscle skills. They demonstrate that they are happy at nursery as they excitedly try to burst bubbles that fill the air. Staff act as positive role models, treating children with the respect that they deserve. Children are encouraged to be polite and kind individuals. For instance, they sing the 'please and thank you' song before mealtimes. Clear expectations for behaviour help to make the nursery a harmonious place to be.

Children display positive attitudes towards play and learning. They immerse themselves in making marks in sand and experimenting with how cars move quickly down ramps. Children enjoy the activities that are planned for them. For example, they are fascinated as they paint ice, observing the changes as it melts. They say 'again, again' with glee. These positive attitudes help to give children a solid foundation for developing the characteristics of effective learning.

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

• Staff observe children's learning carefully to find out what they can do. Staff complete precise assessments and seek parent information to accurately assess children's development. This helps children to make good levels of progress. Planned activities take account of children's interests. Staff focus on promoting children's development in the prime areas of learning. This helps to give children a good foundation of skills before they move on to the next stage of education.
• Staff are clear about how to promote children's developing communication and language skills. They place a high priority on reading carefully chosen stories with children. Children listen intently to staff, who animatedly read their favourite books. Opportunities for singing songs and rhymes are plentiful. Children appreciate this and happily join in with some words and actions. Staff skilfully narrate babies' actions as they play. Children hear language that is interesting and relevant. For example, staff describe feelings, such as 'cold', and talk about 'mixing' as children paint. This helps to develop children's vocabulary and understanding of words.
• Children are supported to become increasingly independent. At mealtimes, babies and toddlers feed themselves healthy and nutritious meals. Even the youngest of children have a go at completing simple tasks, such as putting on aprons themselves. This gives them the independence and confidence that they need to tackle new challenges.
• The curious children have exciting opportunities to explore and learn about the world around them. For example, they visit the garden centre to buy flowers for planting and take trips to the local farm to see animals. Staff extend children's interest in transport by taking them on walks to observe different vehicles. The rich set of experiences that children receive helps to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world.
• Parents say that their children are happy at nursery. They appreciate the supportive, friendly and approachable staff, and state that they receive a thorough report on their child's day. There are some planned initiatives to support parent engagement. However, these are not yet embedded securely enough. This means that parents are not always fully informed about how they can support children's developing skills further at home.
• The dedicated nursery manager is a hands-on leader. Regular observations and reflections of staff's teaching help to evaluate their strengths and areas for development. The setting is still in its infancy, having only recently registered. However, the management team has ambitious action plans in place, such as to further develop the outdoor area. This helps to foster a culture of continuous improvement.
• Staff benefit from regular supervision meetings and training to enhance their knowledge and skills. Staff receive training that is specific to working with babies and younger children. This positively impacts on the quality of teaching and outcomes for children. For example, staff have recently made changes to provide more sensory-based play to spark curiosity and learning opportunities even further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• further develop how information is shared between a child's key person and their parents to enable children's learning to continue at home.