The Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at this inspirational nursery highly motivated and with a positive attitude to their learning. Children and their families build strong and meaningful bonds with the nursery staff. These begin before children start nursery. Through a programme of highly effective home visits and settling-in sessions, staff and children build trusting relationships. This sense of belonging continues to grow and develop, due to the care and kindness staff continue to show.

All children thrive at the nursery and show intense concentration in the array of fascinating learning opportunities available for them. Staff have high expectations for what children can achieve. They engage with them through thoughtful questioning that challenges children to think and use their own ideas. Staff are highly skilled in supporting children's communication and language development, including for those who speak English as an additional language. Staff provide daily small-group language activities and are consistent in engaging children in meaningful back-and-forth conversations. Staff continually introduce new words as children play. For example, when children were painting, staff introduced and explained the meaning of symmetrical, in relation to their butterfly paintings. Staff ask thought-provoking questions, allowing children plenty of time to think deeply before they respond. Staff provide excellent mathematical opportunities. They include frequent counting and number recognition opportunities as part of the daily routines and older children are competent in simple adding and subtracting. For example, at snack time, children calculate how many more pieces of fruit they can take to equal the number represented on the board.

Older children begin to understand and recognise feelings and emotions. This is because staff support all children to learn how to regulate these emotions through their curriculum design. For example, during a story, children are able to explain how the term, 'feeling a little bit blue,' means people can, 'feel a bit sad.' Additionally, another child expresses delight during a singing activity as they declare, 'I am very good at this song now'. Children clearly demonstrate that they feel very happy and safe in the wonderful environment that has been created by the dedicated staff team.

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

• The inspirational manager has a clear vision for the nursery's broad and highly ambitious curriculum. This is faultlessly communicated with staff who deliver sequenced learning with expertise. As a result of the rich experiences on offer to children, their attitudes to learning are consistently positive. They are highly motivated and sustain concentration for extended periods of time. Staff provide appropriate challenge for children, who in response demonstrate perseverance to achieve new skills. This prepares them for future success and ensures all children make excellent progress in their learning.
• The dedicated manager is committed to developing an outstanding staff team and nursery. She strongly encourages all staff to access training and personal development, and she highly motivates all staff. Leaders ensure that staff have access to excellent well-being support, and staff tell the inspector that they feel extremely valued and listened to. Highly reflective self-evaluation accurately helps target improvements and shape the outstanding service that is provided. For example, staff have daily briefings before and after the nursery day.
• Staff adopt strong and extremely successful partnerships with parents and others involved in children's care and education. Parents comment how staff are invested in each individual child to reach their full potential. Staff continually share children's learning so that parents can seamlessly continue this at home.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) works extremely closely with outside professionals to ensure that personalised intervention is delivered consistently across the setting. This supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. In addition, leaders have built superb partnerships with schools which children will attend. For example, teachers visit the nursery to read stories, as well as children visiting their future schools frequently. Children are more than ready for their move to school. For instance, on the day of inspection children independently dress in a range of school uniforms and proudly tell the inspector which school they will attend in September.
• Children show through their demeanour, behaviour and enthusiasm that the nursery is somewhere that they feel totally safe, secure and welcome. All children are incredibly well behaved.
• Key persons have an excellent knowledge of each child's learning needs and styles. They seamlessly weave what children need to learn next into every interaction. Staff have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of each and every child's development, and they use meticulous ongoing assessments to precisely identify what children need to learn next. This enables all children to make the best possible progress.
• The innovative staff engage children in meaningful tasks to teach them about global factors, such as, how to care for their planet, and the role they can play in improving it. In addition, pre-school children attend a residential care home each week, offering a unique opportunity for younger and older generations to interact through planned activities. This is empowering children to make a difference and supporting them to adopt higher levels of respect, care and consideration for the world around them.