The Malthouse Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Warm and friendly staff welcome the children into this nurturing nursery. They enter happy and excited for the day ahead. Staff build strong relationships with the children in their care. Babies receive cuddles and reassurance. This enables them to feel safe and secure. Staff give children lots of praise and celebrate their 'I am a star' moments together. This builds children's self-esteem and sense of belonging.

Children take long walks within the beautiful grounds of Charlton Manor. They enjoy seeing the wildlife and rolling down grassy hills. Staff have created an outdoor classroom in a secluded woodland area. This benefits those children who 'learn the best outside'. Children run around, climb trees and explore a wide range of resources. They use their imagination as they pretend to cook in the mud kitchen and build things using the large items. This allows children the space to explore larger materials and helps to strengthen their muscles.

Staff prioritise supporting children's personal, emotional and social development. They use books and signs to build children's understanding and use emotional language to support children to express how they are feeling. Staff act as role models to reinforce positive behaviours. Staff offer the children gentle reminders of the pre-school rules. When conflicts arise, staff support the children to talk about how they can be resolved. This means children learn how to manage their feelings and behaviours.

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

• The manager and her team have created a well-balanced curriculum that covers all seven areas of learning. They use a blend of adult-led activities and child-led play to ensure children achieve their next stages of learning. Staff skilfully interact with the children to extend their knowledge past what they already know. This means children make visible progress from their starting points.
• Children develop a love of books and literacy. Staff support children to identify letters and words by providing labels and written questions around the pre-school room. They place paper and pens in all areas to encourage mark making. Older children play literacy games using an interactive table and complete tailored workbooks. This further enhances their literacy skills and builds the muscles needed for later writing.
• The newly opened baby and toddler room offers a calm and nurturing environment. The staff know the children well and ensure their needs are met. The babies clap along to their favourite stories and songs. Toddlers wave at staff from the slide and explore the farm animals. However, at times, planned creative activities are too structured and limit the children's time to explore creative materials, such as paint and glue. This means children do not always get time to express their creativity and imagination.
• Staff collaborate with parents and a range of professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff receive specialist training to enable them to understand a range of needs to ensure that children make the best possible progress in their care. For example, staff work with a speech and language therapist to gain strategies and activities to enhance children's confidence in communicating at group times.
• Parents praise the kind, caring and nurturing staff. They love that their children get to spend so much time outside and immersed in nature. Parents receive regular newsletters outlining events, activities and reminders. They get regular feedback on their child's development and the next stages of learning. Older children bring home storybooks, and staff share ideas to extend learning at home. Parents feel included in their child's learning and feel comfortable seeking support and guidance from the staff.
• Staff show passion and dedication when caring for the children. They work well as a team and continually share their thoughts and ideas for the nursery. The manager focuses on supporting staff's mental health and well-being. She wants all staff to feel valued and happy in the place they work. However, the manager has highlighted that, while staff attend some training courses, these need to be more targeted to raise the already good standard of teaching to an even higher level.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children with more time to explore creative materials, allowing them to express their own ideas
• consider developing a more focused professional development programme to raise the quality of teaching to the highest level.