The Little Red Hen Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident and happy in this well-established nursery. Staff value each child highly and take great care to meet their needs from the first day they arrive at the nursery. They engage warmly with children through smiles, and they use gentle tones of voice. Staff have high expectations of children. They manage children's behaviour effectively, for instance by using praise to motivate children to act in positive ways. Staff share group rules with children and explain why some behaviour is not acceptable. Children behave well.

The curriculum is broad and balanced. Children gain a good understanding of the world. For instance, staff plant and grow sunflowers with children to teach them how things grow. They talk to children about different animals, their features and how they live. Children gain good physical skills. They use a range of outdoor resources to practise their climbing, balancing, running and jumping skills. Children develop very good mathematical skills. Staff use a wide variety of games and songs to teach children to count securely. They teach children the names of different shapes, and children recognise and name pentagons and hexagons. Staff teach children about difference. For instance, they have discussions and read stories to children that reflect diverse cultures and religious events, such as Eid and Chinese New Year.

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

• Staff teach children good communication, language and literacy skills very successfully. For example, children arrive each morning and enjoy a group 'chat on the mat' session, where they discuss a range of subjects, such as children's interests, weather and seasons. Staff read a range of stories to children and sing nursery rhymes and songs, enabling children to learn new words. They organise small-group games where children select interesting objects from a box and talk about them. This helps to support their communication skills.
• Children develop good independence skills. Staff teach children how to take off and put on the lids of food containers at lunchtime. Children pour their own drinks and put on their coats and shoes. They help to tidy up at the end of play sessions.
• Staff support children's creative development effectively. For example, children make leaf prints from paint and use play dough to make models. Children enjoy playing different musical instruments to explore sound.
• Children learn to share and take turns. For instance, they take turns during group games and learn to share resources as they take part in pretend play, such as shopping.
• Staff have good partnerships with parents. Parents made positive comments, such as 'the quality of education is very good'. Staff keep parents informed of children's progress regularly. They give parents good opportunities to support children's learning, for example by loaning books to share with their children at home.
• The manager evaluates the nursery regularly to identify areas for improvement. She sets clear goals, for example, she plans to continue to enhance staff's skills and knowledge through different training courses.
• The manager supports staff well-being effectively. She knows her small staff team well and meets with staff individually to discuss work and offer assistance where needed. The manager is committed to the continual development of her staff team. She provides regular in-house staff training sessions, covering a variety of topics, including literacy and mathematics. This leads to improved outcomes for children.
• Staff have begun to teach children about feelings, such as happiness. However, this has not been developed fully to widen children's understanding of different emotions.
• Staff provide healthy routines for children, such as daily physical challenges, and they teach them about the value of eating well. Staff have started to teach children about oral hygiene. For instance, they discuss the importance of regular toothbrushing. However, teaching in this area has not been fully developed to strengthen children's awareness.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the curriculum for personal and social development by developing children's awareness of different feelings, to support their understanding of themselves and others
• widen the curriculum for physical development by strengthening children's awareness of oral hygiene further.