The Grange Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

As families enter the welcoming nursery, staff greet them with genuine warmth and affection, and a friendly, cheerful smile. This helps children, clearly familiar with the daily routine, to settle quickly. For example, children excitedly find their individually labelled peg and confidently hang up their coats. Staff nurture children, all of whom have built strong emotional attachments to staff. This helps children to flourish and feel safe and secure.

Overall, staff organise activities and the nursery day very effectively to support children's care and learning, and demonstrate good-quality interactions. All children progress well, are eager to play and learn and develop important skills in readiness for going to school. For instance, children engage well in activities. They have a positive approach to learning, for instance, while exploring the hidden 'treasure' in the sand and spontaneously finding a worm in soil. Staff weave early mathematics through activities, such as counting the items of 'treasure' with children.

Staff are excellent role models who help children to develop independence and an understanding of healthy lifestyles during daily routines. They instil important social skills. This is reflected in children's very good behaviour and kind and caring friendships. For example, staff suggest everyone works together during group activities and praise children for using their 'sharing hands' and 'listening ears' in the nursery. Depending on children's stage of development, staff use different ways to help children learn to manage their emotions, such as through stories and a 'feelings' jar.

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

• Staff continually observe, assess and discuss children's progress together in weekly meetings. This informs detailed plans for children's future learning. Staff swiftly identify children working below development expectations. They use excellent strategies, and work in superb partnership with other professionals, to support children with an emerging delay or children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Staff effectively help children to process and remember what they are learning. For example, when planning for a particular learning intention or interest, such as a fascination with pirates or insects, staff provide a rich range of activities across the week and create interactive displays.
• Overall, parents are well informed by staff about children's progress, for instance, during termly meetings. Parents share children's 'wow' moments, which staff proudly display and use to strengthen their assessments.
• Staff involve parents in strong nursery initiatives that support children's learning. However, they do not consistently share children's changing next steps and how parents can support these at home. When staff do this, next steps and suggestions are sometimes too advanced for children's stage of development.
• Children develop important physical skills. For example, they carefully scoop sand into small sheer bags and transport soil between metal containers in the sensory kitchen during the set outside play time. Children confidently negotiate the climbing wall and whizz around on wheeled toys. Staff also plan yoga sessions.
• Staff's enthusiasm motivates children and enhances their enjoyment. For example, as children explore interesting metal items at the music station with great enthusiasm, such as a bin lid, staff talk about the different sounds. Staff ignite children's imaginations during role play with pirate-themed resources.
• Staff implement wide-ranging initiatives that support children's early communication. For example, they display 'vocabulary rainbows' around the nursery and use visual aids to support daily routines, such as tidy-up time. Staff create a language-rich environment and provide a wealth of accessible books and story props.
• Staff encourage parents to support children's love of reading superbly. For example, parents share feedback after borrowing books from the nursery library. During circle time, children share the nursery bear's adventures which parents record in a diary. Staff invite parents to book sharing evenings and workshops.
• Staff teach children about the world in many ways. For example, children help care for the pet guinea pig and engage in planting and growing. Children learn about different occupations and people who help us, for instance, through visitors.
• Daily routines are planned well in most respects. However, sometimes the noise levels rise when the nursery room becomes busier. Staff do not consider making greater use of the outdoor area, especially where children love being outside.
• Staff's qualifications have a very positive impact on their practice, as does continued professional development, such as that designed to build on children's early language and literacy skills.
• All staff effectively reflect on practice together and the passionate manager provides continuous informal and formal coaching, support and mentoring. This contributes successfully to the progress of the nursery since the last inspection.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• share more precise information with parents about children's ongoing next steps in learning and how they can support these at home, taking greater account of children's stage of development
• review the organisation of daily routines and the use of outdoor space, to support children's learning to a higher level, especially where they have a preference for outdoor learning.