The Old School Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show positive relationships with staff. When toddlers wake from sleeping, they go straight to staff to sit on their knee for cuddles. This shows that children feel safe and secure in staff's care. Children have opportunities to develop a sense of responsibility. For example, pre-school children are asked to help to carry chairs to a table at snack time, showing how they can do this safely. Children in the toddler and pre-school room are given clear instructions from staff about the routine of the day. For instance, when children come indoors from outdoors, staff ask them to take off their shoes, sit in the cosy area and to wait until it is their turn to wash their hands. Children listen and follow these instructions.

Children learn how to use toys in their play. For example, in the baby room, staff show children how to roll a toy truck, making the sounds a truck makes. Children watch and copy staff, saying 'brum' to extend their speaking skills as they push the truck along. The provider arranges for school teachers to visit pre-school children in in the nursery before they move on to school. This helps them to become familiar with the person who will be caring for them. Pre-school children tell visitors the name of their teacher and show excitement when they say that they met them.

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

• Staff support children's speaking skills well. For instance, they use repetitive words when they play alongside children in the baby room. Children begin to copy these words, building on their vocabulary. Staff ask pre-school children a good range of questions and give them time to answer, encouraging their thinking skills.
• The provider and staff implement a curriculum that supports children to be ready for their move on to school. This includes encouraging children's independence. For instance, staff give children in the baby room, plenty of time to try to put on boots by themselves. Children show perseverance and determination when they do this. Toddlers and pre-school children are asked to use tea pots to pour milk into their cups at snack time. They do this competently.
• The provider involves parents when identifying and making changes to the environment to promote children's learning. For example, parents build a step in the garden that enables children to see and learn about horses, donkeys and goats in the field beyond. However, staff do not find out from parents about children's ongoing achievements at home to help them plan more precisely for children's learning. Furthermore, they do not offer all parents suggestions about how they can continue to support their children's development at home.
• Staff help children to recognise positive behaviour. For instance, in the baby room, children are supported to use jugs to pour water into containers. When they do this, staff say, 'well done' and clap their hands to reward their achievements. Staff ensure that each child has a chance to pour water, showing them how to take turns.
• Staff supervise children to promote their safety when they use knives to spread cream cheese onto crackers at snack time. However, staff do not build on toddlers' and pre-school children's knowledge of how they can keep themselves safe. For example, they do not support pre-school children to identify potential risks when they use technology to access the internet at home. Furthermore, staff do not fully promote toddlers' and pre-school children's privacy when toileting.
• Staff offer children opportunities to develop their literacy skills. For instance, they make available pencils and paper that children use to create artwork. Staff talk to them about what they are drawing. Children say that they draw pirates, putting meaning to the marks they make. They make up stories incorporating these images.
• Children in the baby room are supported by staff to develop their self-care skills. For example, staff plan activities for them to pour and scoop when they use spoons and containers with water. This helps children to develop the skills they need and muscles in their hands to be able to use cutlery to feed themselves at mealtimes.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop partnerships with parents to help staff identify children's ongoing achievements and to offer all parents suggestions about how they can continue to support their children's learning at home
• support staff to build on toddlers' and pre-school children's knowledge of how they can keep themselves safe.