The Old Station Nursery - Warwick Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff welcome children into a calm and inviting environment, where they can move freely between indoors and outdoors, choosing from a wide range of interesting resources. Staff greet children warmly, helping them settle quickly, particularly those who are new or need extra reassurance. Key persons know each child well. They use comfort items, gentle interaction, and encouragement to help children feel safe and ready to join in.

Leaders work alongside staff to plan purposeful enhancements that reflect children's needs, interests, and connections to the local community. For example, they take children litter picking and arrange visits to a care home to help build children's awareness of the world around them. Leaders and staff use resources, such as the mud kitchen and art trolley, to help develop children's independence. Children gain the skills and confidence they need for their next stage in learning.

Staff set clear expectations for behaviour and attitudes to learning. They model kindness, praise cooperation so children learn to take turns, share ideas and resolve small disagreements calmly. Staff notice and respond quickly to children's needs, helping them sustain concentration and re-engage if they become distracted. They have introduced a well-being board to support children to begin to regulate their own emotions. Children develop the confidence to contribute, the resilience to keep trying, and the social skills to work well with others.

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

• Leaders use monitoring and improvement planning to develop practice. They have improved the outdoor provision with creative resources, which has enriched children's learning experiences. They provide staff with specific targets to extend their practice, helping to strengthen the quality of teaching across the setting.
• Leaders make sure all staff have access to training that builds on their knowledge and skills. New staff complete a thorough induction, so they understand policies, procedures, and expectations. Apprentices receive regular guidance and mentoring, which helps them grow in confidence and develop their practice alongside experienced colleagues.
• Overall, leaders and staff provide a varied and engaging curriculum. They plan activities that reflect children's interests and stage of development, and make good use of indoor and outdoor resources to support learning. However, the curriculum does not always focus well enough on learning experiences that build on what children already know and can do to help them make even better progress.
• Leaders and staff build supportive relationships with families. They establish children's starting points and offer some ideas to support learning at home.
• Parents value the care and attention their children receive and the approachable nature of staff. However, the detail and consistency of information staff share with parents about children's learning and progress vary. This reduces opportunities for all parents to fully support and extend learning at home.
• Staff skilfully extend children's learning through well-timed questions, ideas, and resources that build language, confidence, and thinking skills. They join in role play to develop imagination, encourage problem-solving when children build large scale structures, and introduce new vocabulary. Children are highly engaged in their play, approach activities with confidence, and show motivation to explore and try new challenges.
• Staff provide personally tailored support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They adapt activities to match the children's. needs. For example, they use strategies, such as sign language, visual prompts, and targeted one-to-one support to build communication and social interaction. Leaders seek advice from external professionals and set clear targets to track progress so that children's development needs are met.
• Staff enrich children's communication and language through daily conversation, songs, and stories. Children join in Spanish lessons that staff adapt to their needs using songs, books, and games to learn new words. Children access multilingual books, including Romanian and Chinese texts, and staff help them to develop their language skills through the 'word of the week'. Children are confident communicators.
• Staff support children's emotional well-being and self-control successfully through daily routines and targeted activities. For example they link strategies, such as practising breathing during yoga, so children can use calm breathing when they feel frustrated or need to concentrate. Children behave well and show respect for others. They actively invite their friends to join in with their play ideas and cooperate well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine the curriculum so that it builds on what children already know and need to lean next
• provide consistent, detailed information to parents about their child's learning and progress to further support learning at home.