The Enchanted Wood Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish at this unique and welcoming setting. They are at the heart of everything. They arrive smiling and eager to start a day filled with amazing and exciting learning opportunities. Leaders create a very stimulating and inviting environment, where children feel 'at home'. A wide selection of natural and real-life resources available for children, means that they quickly become deeply engrossed in inspirational activities that stimulate their curiosity and sense of discovery and exploration. Children display high levels of energy and confidence. The well-planned provision allows children to make their own informed decision of what they would like to do next.

Staff and leaders have very high expectations of children, who confidently follow the setting's routines and boundaries. Staff ensure they effectively deliver a well-sequenced and ambitious curriculum that has been devised around the needs and interests of the current cohort of children. This has a great and positive impact on all children who make excellent progress and become independent learners.

Children form very fond relationships with all staff who are intuitive and readily available to support their emerging needs. Staff are excellent role models. They continually offer children encouragement to do things for themselves, such as preparing their own snack and buttering their own bread. Staff then offer an abundance of praise and children feel accomplished and proud of themselves. This positively supports their self-esteem and emotional resilience.

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

• Staff and leaders are skilled and experienced. They gather a wealth of information about children before they start. Personalised settling-in sessions and home visits mean that staff are able to plan for children's individual needs immediately. Staff and leaders track children's progress diligently. Effective and personalised strategies are then introduced to narrow any identified gaps in children's learning. Staff and leaders also seek advice and support from other professionals when required. This ensures that all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make remarkable progress from their starting points.
• Staff are highly responsive to children's interests. They use their interactions to enhance children's experiences and develop their knowledge. For example, when younger children decide to step into the water tray they were exploring, staff suggests jumping in the 'puddle'. She guides them and supports them to safely move around the tray to strengthen their balance and coordination, while introducing new words such as 'splash' and 'bubble'. Young children are truly fascinated and display high levels of energy and joy. This also supports children's communication and language skills.
• Staff and leaders are extremely creative. They always find ingenious ways to stimulate children's thinking and problem-solving skills. For example, staff 'challenge' older children to make their own spaghetti pasta, using a pasta machine. They prompt children to notice the difference between different textures of the dough, quickly learning new concepts such as 'soft' and 'dry'. Staff also inspire children to look closely at various herbs, such as rosemary and parsley, to identify their distinctive smells and features. Children become immersed in this activity, showing determination and perseverance to achieve the goal. As a result, children's experiences and understanding of the world are highly enriched.
• Staff provide children with rich language learning opportunities. For example, staff inspire children to look at pictures of various buildings before creating their own structures, using large building blocks. With clear guidance from nurturing staff, children learn new words, such as 'church' and 'library', and discuss where they have seen such buildings. They also learn the difference between a 'flat roof' and 'triangular-shaped roof'. Furthermore, children then work together with their peers to decide what type of building they will be creating. This also helps develop children's personal and social skills.
• Leaders are inspirational and ambitious. They are highly reflective. Careful consideration goes into all decisions in the setting to ensure they benefit all children. Leaders create a positive culture across the setting. They value staff's well-being and professional development. Staff report that the morale is high. They feel supported and motivated to deliver excellent care and education for all children, which is clearly evident in their practice. Leaders' passion to deliver the best start to early education for all children, is embraced by all staff with dedication and commitment.
• Partnerships with parents are excellent. Clear lines of communication ensure a two-way flow of information about children's learning and development. Parents praise how well the staff know their children and the amazing learning opportunities provided to meet their individual needs. Parents are frequently provided with relevant information and specific books to support and extend their children's learning at home.