The Manor House Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settle quickly when they arrive at nursery. They independently remove their shoes and are warmly greeted by staff. Children say goodbye to their parents and are keen to explore the environment. Children have affectionate relationships with staff. They form close attachments with their key person. For instance, new children snuggle up on a member of staff's lap as they sing songs at group time. This supports children to feel secure and safe. Children are physically active indoors and outdoors. For example, they explore the large icy garden and work as a team to collect and count frozen sticks. Older children demonstrate high levels of resilience and teamwork when they experiment with different tools to discover which will break ice. They are proud of themselves and their friends when they discover a toy inside the ice.

The youngest children explore the environment with confidence. They develop their social and speaking skills when they babble and giggle happily having back-and-forth interactions with staff. Children are creative when they play with musical instruments and bang on a drum. They are supported to develop their self-care skills. Babies are encouraged to begin feeding themselves. Older children serve themselves with food at meal and snack time.

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

• The nursery has been through a difficult time, experiencing changes in the management and staff teams. Leaders acknowledge the pressure this has recently had on the staff team. Staff feel supported and valued by the leaders. They have one-to-one to meetings to support their own practice and to raise the quality of their teaching. Staff support children to progress well in their development.
• Staff gather information from parents about what children already know and can do when they start attending. They observe children during interactions and activities. Staff use this information to identify how they can support children in their development. However, some inconsistencies in staff's assessments mean that staff are not quickly identifying gaps in children's learning.
• Staff know the children well. They provide effective support to help them develop their communication and language skills. Children take part in activities that help them to identify colours and follow instructions. Children seek and find objects linking to a particular colour they have identified and remembered. Staff introduce new vocabulary to children and ask them questions, encouraging their thinking skills.
• Staff support children's physical development. Children excitedly jump up and down as they walk to the garden. Children have opportunities to ride on scooters and to safely navigate around other children. They balance on stepping stones and use their imagination as they play together in the play house.
• Children show a good understanding of hygiene practices, such as washing their hands. They use the toilet with increasing independence. Children put on their coats and boots before they go outside and proudly tell their friends when they have succeeded.
• Overall, children behave in a positive way towards their peers and adults. However, some staff are not always clear or consistent with the boundaries they put into place. This results in some children challenging those boundaries.
• Children develop their understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles. They learn which foods and drinks are healthy and unhealthy. This helps them to make informed choices.
• Children learn about the community around them. They visit the local care home for older people and take part in singing sessions with the residents. Children also explore the local woods, library and shops to buy produce for their parents' open mornings.
• Parents are happy with the care their children receive. Key persons develop positive relationships with parents and share activities and children's learning with them. Staff give parents information and encouragement to promote toilet training for their children. This helps to provide a united approach to promoting children's development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to build further on children's assessment to help fully identify gaps in their learning more precisely
• strengthen staff's use of consistent messages to children about behaviour expectations in daily routines.