The Oxford Nursery Summertown

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are safe and happy. They are greeted on their arrival to nursery by kind and enthused staff. Children smile and laugh a lot as they play and learn. They show a positive attitude to learning and look forward to favourite activities. Babies are content and enjoy interactions with staff. They curiously explore a range of media and materials available to them. Toddlers learn to study their reflections in a range of mirrors. They learn about similarities and differences between themselves and others effectively. Pre-school children show excitement about exploring the outdoor garden, as they learn to balance on stilts and use age-appropriate racquets competently.

Children behave well. They have good manners and learn how to cooperate with each other, share and take turns. Children are confident and self-assured. They greet visitors with curiosity and talk with enthusiasm about their experiences at nursery and at home. Children are taught to express and manage their feelings. Staff recognise that some children have needed more support with their emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, they hold skilful conversations during circle and story times. Children understand when their friends are sad and know what to do to make them happy.

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

• The manager has high expectations for the children in her care. The curriculum is carefully designed to build on what children know and can do. Children have opportunities to practise the skills they have learned to secure their knowledge. They are motivated to explore and investigate and show good levels of curiosity and concentration.
• Professional development is strong. Staff receive good encouragement to further their own qualifications and careers. They speak very highly of the support that they receive from the manager and the provider. The manager implements systems to ensure that staff's workload is managed effectively and their well-being is consistently supported. This means that staff feel valued and enjoy their roles.
• Staff's interaction with children is positive overall. However, during some activities, staff move away from children to complete routine tasks, such as preparing the sleep and lunch areas. This results in children losing interest in the activity and learning is interrupted.
• Parents' views of the nursery are highly complimentary. They say staff share regular information with them about their children's well-being and learning. Parents praise the hard work of the manager and her staff. They comment how staff supported them extremely well through the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents comment on how they were provided with activities and ideas to support children's learning at home, as well as holding a range of events outside, such as the annual graduation ceremony.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. Staff implement effective support plans to help children catch up in their learning and make progress. They liaise with parents about children's learning plans, and parents provide useful information from specialists to support curriculum planning. Staff understand the needs of individual children and ensure that resources offered inspire children to want to explore.
• Good arrangements are in place to support children who are learning English as an additional language. Staff find out about children's home language vocabulary. They use visual picture prompts and dual-language books to support young children's language development.
• Staff are warm and caring to all children. The manager has identified that some children are finding starting nursery a little unsettling, due to their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. All children have a key person. Staff understand the importance of this role in helping children build attachments and feel safe and secure. However, staff deployment needs mean that opportunities for children, including those new to the setting, to spend time with their key person are not always maximised.
• The provider and the manager regularly reflect on practice and evaluate the setting to ensure the continuous improvements benefit children's learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance opportunities for children to maintain their concentration and exploration during the times when staff leave activities to carry out routine tasks
• reflect on how children and key persons can spend more time together to build further on children's attachments and feelings of belonging and security.