The Old School House Nursery Walmley

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provider's curriculum and teaching approach is inspired by the use of natural materials. Staff understand how this philosophy underpins their teaching and implement this successfully. They effectively support all children, including those with special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to make good progress. Children engage well with the learning environment that staff have created. For example, staff build on babies interest in blocks and introduce critical thinking skills with shape sorters. Throughout the nursery, staff recognise the importance of supporting children's problem solving and reasoning skills.

Staff are nurturing and attentive towards the children, and know them all very well. Strong communication between staff ensures that children's needs are met well in the absence of a child's key person. This further supports children's sense of belonging and the good bonds they have with the staff. Children show that they feel happy, safe and secure. Two-year-old children awake content from their sleep and seek cuddles from staff who supervise them well.

Staff set clear expectations for children's behaviour and calmly reinforce these throughout the day. They provide children with the time to respond to instructions and gently remind them of the expected behaviour, such as waiting for what they want and sharing resources. Children display good manners at mealtimes and as they travel around the building. Staff complete regular head counts to ensure that each child is accounted for.

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

• Parent partnerships are a real strength of the nursery. The manager and staff cultivate positive relationships with parents to support the continuity for children's learning at home and nursery. The manager plans regular occasions for parents to engage in nursery life and learn how they can further help their child's development. Parents speak very positively about the service provided and how their children love attending.
• The provider supports the staff's ongoing professional development at all levels. This includes a thorough induction for new staff, regular supervision and opportunities for purposeful professional development. Recent training has focused further on how they use the Reggio Emilia philosophy in their planning and teaching.
• The manager monitors the quality of teaching and the impact this has on children's learning. This helps to support consistency in staff practice. She works closely with the area manager to strengthen staffs' interactions with children. Recently, they have been supporting staff with developing smooth transitions for children around the nursery. Self-evaluation is effective and the leadership team have a clear focus for future improvements.
• Overall, the manager has developed a progressive curriculum that builds on children's knowledge, understanding and skills as they progress through the nursery. This is reflected well in the learning environment. For example, staff provide greater opportunities for pre-school children to develop their mathematical and literacy skills. However, the curriculum for children's speaking skills is broad and does not precisely identify the knowledge and skills that children need to gain at the various stages of development.
• Overall, staff make good use of their observations of children's achievements to plan for their learning. This includes implementing targeted support and working with other professionals to help children with SEND to meet their development milestones in readiness for school.
• Teaching is good and staff understand how young children learn. Staff provide children with purposeful interactions that help them to recall and practise what they have learnt. For example, they encourage pre-school children to read what they have written and give younger children time to think and work out solutions to problems. Younger children manage the removal of their outdoor clothes and know where to put them. Babies persevere with self-feeding.
• The learning environment is inviting and engages children well in their play and exploration. Staff make timely changes throughout the day to ensure that children have new activities to motivate them. They provide a range of resources that promote smaller muscle movements, such as when children use playdough, pipettes and small-scale painting. However, staff do not identify how they can adapt resources to ensure that each child is fully supported in developing their larger muscle movements.
• Staff promote diversity well and help children to understand about the different ways that people in the local community celebrate. Children engage in role play and dress up in clothes that reflect different cultures. They learn how some staff and children are currently celebrating Ramadan.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine the curriculum to precisely identify the knowledge and skills that children need to gain to progress further in their communication development
• make full use of the indoor and outdoor learning environments to maximise children's development in their large muscle movements.