The Old Station Nursery - Stratford-upon-Avon

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Parents enter the nursery to drop off and collect their children. A well-planned induction for children provides time for staff to gather valuable information about each child's interests, likes and dislikes. Children's visits with parents help to ease the eventual separation, and children form close bonds with their key person. This supports children's emotional well-being and makes them feel secure in the environment. Staff are kind and nurturing. They respond quickly to children's emerging needs as they cuddle and reassure children. Staff teach children simple rules from an early age. They model good behaviour and remind children to use 'kind hands' with their friends. As a result, children begin to think about how their behaviour affects others.

The curriculum focuses in the main on the prime areas. This is appropriate for the age range of the children attending. There is some integration of the specific areas for older children, such as in mathematics. This challenges their learning further. Staff teach children the skills they require for their future learning based on what children know and need to know next. The team wants children to make the best progress, taking account of their starting points.

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

• A programme of supervision, training and support provides staff with the knowledge and skills they need to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively. Staff feel valued and speak highly of the managers' commitment to their work and the care of the children. The organisation maintains a clear governance of the nursery.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive good support. Early assessment of children provides staff with an accurate picture of each child's development stage. Any gaps in children's development are swiftly identified. This means that early interventions target areas where children need support to make the best possible progress.
• Babies thrive in the environment. They have access to indoor and outdoor play. The environment is filled with language as staff continually talk, sing and verbalise to encourage children to make sounds. At group times, children engage in simple games with staff. The children are enthralled as they look at what is in the box. Each item links to a song or rhyme. Some of the children begin to shuffle and move their bodies to the sounds. They follow staff as they clap their hands. This develops children's strength in their large muscles and prepares them for their next steps in learning.
• Staff use toddlers' interest in dinosaurs to build on their learning. Children show good dexterity as they move rollers through the paint to make patterns. Staff introduce simple mathematics as they talk about the different shapes and patterns children make. They follow the children's lead as they ask to stomp like a dinosaur, taking off their shoes and socks to make their own footprints. Children giggle as they 'stomp, stomp' like a dinosaur along the paper. Younger toddlers develop their physical skills as they hold large chalks to mark make. However, on occasion, some activities do not inspire children's curiosity to a consistently high level, and children quickly move on.
• Older toddlers speak confidently and begin to show good levels of self-esteem. They recall events from their own experience. Children talk about places they have been to and things they have done in detail. Occasionally, younger children who lack the range of vocabulary to express how they feel can become frustrated. Staff do not always seize the opportunity to support these children as effectively as they might to understand their emotions.
• Staff teach all children to build their independence. Babies begin to feed themselves, initially using their hands and then with spoons and forks. Staff take care to support children's safety when eating. They supervise children well during mealtimes to keep them safe.
• Partnership with parents is good. Parents comment on the range of good communication with the nursery. They are kept informed about their children's progress. This helps them to support their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider how strategies can be used more effectively to encourage children to articulate their feelings and emotions
• support staff to review how teaching can inspire children's learning so that they gain the very best out of all activities.