The Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a warm welcome when children and families arrive at the nursery. Children look into the 'How am I feeling' mirror and tell staff that they are happy to be here. They find their named wooden doll and put it into the wooden nursery to show that they have arrived.

Play spaces have plenty of toys and resources for children to choose from. The manager and staff have a clear vision for the curriculum and how they can teach it. Staff use children's interests, skills and prior knowledge when they plan activities. Some children enjoy making play dough figures. They use buttons to add eyes, a nose and mouth. They smile when staff comment on the good work they have done.

Other children look at pictures of buildings across the world and pick out one in Dubai. They try to recreate the building, using the wooden blocks in the nursery. Staff encourage children to look at an atlas to see how far away the real building is.

Children take an interest in nature. They collect soil, pebbles and worms to create a wormery. They plant flowers to attract the butterflies. They use nature books and magazines to help them to identify the different insects and bugs they see in the outdoor area.

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

• Staff focus on developing children's speech and language. Staff use children's interests, books and conversations to encourage communication. Younger children name different toys and join in with favourite rhymes and songs. Older children repeat phrases, use actions and words, as they join in the retelling of a favourite story about hunting for a bear. Staff working with the children recognise when they may need extra help. They talk with parents and other professionals. They look at different ways to help children to become confident speakers.
• Children enjoy being active and develop good physical skills. Outdoors, they experiment with crates, planks and tyres to make an obstacle course. Older children help younger ones to walk across the planks and jump off the end. Indoors, children use scissors, work out how to turn glue sticks to get the glue out and use fingers and thumbs to pick up small pieces of card to create patterns on paper.
• Overall, children show good concentration and engage well with activities. Staff talk with children and support them as they play. Some pre-school children have a tea party in the role-play area. They set out cups, saucers, plates and pretend cakes. They take turns to 'pour' the tea. Younger children use their imagination. They dress up wearing the firefighter helmet and doctor's kit. They tell staff that they can fix their 'sore arm'. On occasion, staff concentrate on children they are talking to and do not notice that others may want to join in.
• Staff encourage children's mathematical skills. Children use tweezers to pick up carrots and radishes from a tray outdoors. Staff encourage children to count how many they have and to compare sizes. Children collect the vegetables and then match them to the numbers on wooden circles.
• Children's behaviour is good, and they show respect for others. Staff help children to cope with changes in the routine as they provide them with warnings. However, staff do not plan these times well. For example, when they tell children to put the toys away, staff do not encourage everyone to join in. Some children continue playing. When getting ready to go outdoors, staff encourage children to put on their own coats and shoes. However, sometimes, children get frustrated as they have to wait too long for staff to help them.
• Partnership with parents is good. Staff share what children are learning with parents. They support parents to continue children's learning at home. For example, staff provide books that parents can take home to read with children to support language and communication. Staff ask about children's home life and use this information to plan activities in the nursery. Parents comment that staff know their children well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the organisation of changes and the way that staff support children so they know what to do
• make sure that staff notice and support children who may need help to engage with activities.