The Early Years Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff know the children well and provide strong levels of support for children's needs, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They offer children uninterrupted experiences at nursery, where they make decisions about their play and lead their own learning. Older children show high levels of motivation and enthusiasm, as they take manageable risks outdoors or solve problems with their friends. They show an eagerness to explore and share their discoveries. For example, children marvel at the collection of insects they find under a tree stump. They excitedly compare the length of the worms and calculate the number of legs on the beetles they see. Babies show equal motivation in their physical play and exploration. They show high levels of perseverance as they work out how to manoeuvre around an obstacle and through trial and error assure their own success.

Across the nursery, staff place high priority on supporting children's emotional well-being. Nurturing staff foster children's sense of self-worth and establish trusting relationships. They place a strong focus on supporting children to regulate their emotions, empowering children to work through their feelings in a way that is meaningful to them. Children play well together in small friendship groups, developing firm connections. They cooperate on tasks, such as scooping buckets of sand to create a giant chocolate cake. Children show they feel happy and settled.

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

• Overall, the curriculum is coherently sequenced and implemented well. The provider has a clear vision for children's learning that is communicated to staff. Staff sensitively support children's progression through key milestones, moving to the next stage of learning only when children are assessed as gaining the necessary skills. They implement suitable strategies to meet children's learning priorities when gaps in learning are observed, such as those resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, they have modified lunchtime routines to support some older children, with social skills as a priority over independence, until children are ready for this next step.
• Staff introduce children to new language through stories and songs. They read to children with enthusiasm, bringing stories to life through colourful character voices. However, children's language development overall is not robustly supported. At times, staff do not routinely model new language or encourage children to say new words. Children who are less confident to seek out adult interaction and children with identified speech delay, do not consistently benefit from focused support that helps them become confident communicators.
• Children are becoming resilient learners who are keen to try new experiences. They are suitably supported by staff in their discoveries, at times when they invite staff into their play. Staff supplement children's own knowledge through observations of what has occurred, which help children establish some links to this new knowledge. However, staff support for problem-solving is not frequent enough. On occasions, older children do not receive the stretch and challenge they need and lose focus.
• Staff promote children's understanding of healthy lifestyles well. They actively encourage free exploration of the outdoors area, supervising children suitably as they take manageable risks in their play, such as climbing small trees. Children's dietary needs are well met. They tuck into nutritious, home-cooked meals. Younger children in particular, demonstrate good levels of independence as they expertly serve themselves at mealtimes. All children and especially babies are supervised well at mealtimes, in the event that an incident of choking occurs. Staff maintain a clean and hygienic premises and are respectful of when children indicate they would like a rest.
• The provider holds a robust oversight of performance management issues. She delivers bespoke training to staff that supports their knowledge and skills well, including new staff who have just started their careers in childcare. Staff report favourably on their workload and opportunities for future development, including gaining recognised qualifications. Staff morale is high and staff fulfil their roles well overall.
• Partnerships with parents support consistency in approach between the nursery and home. Parents are well briefed on the ethos of the nursery and the way staff support children's learning. They receive regular updates on their children's learning and how to support this further at home, including through workshops and training events. Staff work effectively with parents and, when necessary, closely with other professionals and agencies to help ensure these children make progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve staff's support for children's developing communication and language skills so that children who show a delay in speaking and younger children gain confidence in using new language in their play
• strengthen the delivery of the curriculum so that staff provide children with a wider range of opportunities to challenge their thinking and encourage them to solve problems.