The Lookout Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in this exceptional nursery. They are nurtured and valued by extremely committed staff, who have high expectations for them all. Staff provide an exceptional environment and curriculum, bespoke to each child, which inspires and interests them to learn. Children are fully absorbed in their play and learning, as they are able to follow and extend on their interests, supported by skilled staff. For example, children help themselves to flour, water and fruit teabags to make 'cakes' from the invitingly designed messy area. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are making excellent progress.

Children are truly in charge of their day from the moment they arrive, choosing to either go straight outside to the garden, including the forest school area, or stay inside. Staff know children exceptionally well and anticipate their needs. They fully respect children's choices and recognise and understand all their attempts at communication. For example, when pre-verbal babies do not want their faces wiped, staff play games, looking in the mirror and pointing out their facial features, until they are ready to have their faces cleaned. Children behave exceptionally well.

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

• The owner and manager are highly ambitious and passionate. They have a clear vision of what they want the nursery to be like and successfully share this with the staff, ensuring they are all working together to continually improve. They highly value staff, offering them regular supervisions and opportunities to further increase their knowledge.
• There is a strong focus on developing children's confidence and their communication and independence skills. Children serve themselves snack, butter their own crackers and pour their own drinks. Even the youngest children try to serve their own lunch. Older children have extra responsibilities of helping to clear the table after lunch and bring over the fruit platter, which they do proudly.
• There is a lovely sense of 'family' at this nursery, with all age groups mixed together most of the time. The children support one another to achieve tasks, learning from each other. For example, when older children notice that toddlers are trying to wash their hands outdoors, they purposefully go over and show toddlers how to use the tap before returning to their play. When using age-appropriate tools, such as real saws and hand drills, children notice if a friend has not put on their safety goggles, reminding them to do so.
• Staff initiate many interesting opportunities for children to learn about their local community and beyond. For example, they attend coffee mornings in the village hall and visit local towns on the bus. Staff ensure that they all celebrate the diversity of their own setting by, for example, learning simple words and seeing text in books in the languages that children in the nursery speak at home.
• The nursery has fantastic partnerships with parents. Staff get to know parents and families very well, starting with a thorough settling-in programme. Staff give parents ideas of how they can extend children's learning at home, and they provide support for milestones such as toilet training and adjusting to the birth of new siblings. They love the special parent workshop run at the nursery, which includes topics such as child-led learning and learning Makaton.
• Skilful staff inspire children to be creative thinkers, utilising clever questioning and an enticing learning environment. For example, as children dig with real spades in the mud patch, staff ask them how they could make it easier when they find it too difficult. Children decide that water will help, so they carry over a large container of water and tip it out to wet the mud. Children make their own paint from grass and flowers, using a pestle and mortar and real tools.
• Staff and managers support children with SEND very well. Managers work closely with outside agencies and organisations to ensure that children and families get all the extra help and funding they need for both present and future learning.