The Mulberry Bush Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

As children arrive, they receive a warm and positive welcome from the staff. Babies hold their arms out to key staff and reward other adults with a cheery smile. They enjoy cuddles and reassurance from the kind, caring staff. As a result, their emotional well-being is supported, and children feel safe and secure. When visitors ask pre-school children if they are happy, they reply that they are and return to the visitor and say 'I am very happy'. Children are polite and courteous. For example, they say 'excuse me' before entering a conversation. Children behave well and respond positively when staff remind them about turn taking and being kind to each other.

Children with additional identified needs make good progress from their starting points. Staff recognise when children may need additional support and act promptly. Children benefit from staff working closely with parents to enlist other professionals who may be of help. This is equally noticeable with children who speak English as an additional language, as they demonstrate a good command of the English language. Staff learn words in children's home language and use these alongside the English words. Children enjoy bending and stretching and holding a pose in yoga sessions. This leads to new learning as children practise new skills, such as balancing on one leg. Toddlers sit with staff and look at a book. They copy staff and repeat complicated words, such as 'dragonfly'.

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

• The staff have worked together for many years. There is a family feel about the nursery. Staff speak very positively about the relationship the team has. This, in turn, contributes to the good experiences that the children receive. Staff benefit from regular professional development opportunities. The manager encourages them to complete additional courses to improve their practice. For instance, staff have attended specific courses to motivate boys. Staff explain how boys are showing more of an interest in writing skills.
• Staff know the children well and talk confidently about where they are in their learning. They recognise children's interests and use activities to progress children's learning. For example, babies who enjoy sensory experiences are encouraged to play in the sand with their socks off. This helps them to explore the world around them. Staff plan opportunities for toddlers to develop their early writing skills. Two-year-old children use cars to make shapes and patterns in the sand. Pre-school children take part in small-group speech and language activities. They laugh out loud as they practise using their mouth to make kissing sounds. This helps them to tune into sounds.
• Staff encourage children to share their thoughts and ideas. Pre-school children show an interest in making a wand for their toy. Staff listen intently as children describe what they want to do and how they want to do it. This practice helps to raise children's levels of confidence and self-esteem, and, as such, children have a positive attitude to learning.
• Staff provide children with the opportunity to get fresh air and to be physically active. Children play outdoors in a safely enclosed area. They balance and negotiate space on bikes. Staff provide soft-play equipment indoors to further help children's physical development.
• Staff support children's independence skills well. They provide plenty of opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to move on to their next stage of learning. Children put on their coats and do them up themselves. They pour their own drinks and wash up their pots after they have finished snack.
• Partnership working with parents is strong. The manager has recognised the benefit of giving parents ideas to support children's learning at home. For example, parents can borrow reading books or story sacks. Furthermore, each month, parents receive a 'wow sheet' of their child's achievements.
• Staff interact positively with children of all ages, narrating children's play and talking to them about what they are doing. During group activities, children listen well and concentrate as they learn together. On occasions, some pre-school staff do not recognise when to extend children's learning even further.
• Staff help to broaden children's knowledge of the world around them and provide active experiences, such as taking the children into the local community. They regularly visit the town market and buy groceries to take back to nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to recognise how to extend and challenge children's learning more consistently.