The Parish Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled at the homely nursery. They enter full of confidence and motivation to learn. Children behave positively. They have a good understanding of the rules and boundaries and follow instructions well. Children have learned to share, take turns and be polite to their friends. They are developing good social skills and learning about fundamental British values.

Children have good communication skills. Babies giggle as they learn new phrases, such as 'I-spy' when using the binoculars. Staff introduce words such as 'crunchy', 'spiky' and 'hard', which helps children to learn to describe different textures. Staff have high expectations of what children can achieve. Older children benefit from targeted speech and language intervention groups to improve their speaking skills further. This helps to ensure that all children make good progress in their learning.

Children have developed strong bonds with the kind, nurturing staff. Interactions are sensitive and of high quality. Staff are very responsive to children's individual needs. For instance, they stay close by to new children to offer support and reassurance when necessary. This helps children to feel safe and secure and supports their emotional well-being.

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

• The manager and her staff get to know children very well. They have a secure understanding of child development and the different ways that children learn. However, staff do not always use what they know about children to plan and implement activities that focus on what they need to learn next. This means some activities do not fully challenge children and build on their prior knowledge.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well. Robust systems for monitoring children's development help staff to identify any gaps in learning quickly. The special educational needs coordinator is swift with her approach to early intervention. She ensures that children who may be at risk of falling behind receive support from outside professionals in a timely manner. This helps to ensure that children are prepared for the next stage in their learning.
• Children's literacy skills are well promoted. Staff introduce a book of the week and focus on children's understanding of new words from the story, such as 'twinkling', 'terrible' and 'raised'. This widens children's vocabulary and contributes to their good speaking skills. Staff skilfully adapt story time to meet the needs of individual children. For instance, they use interactive books and props to increase children's concentration span and ensure they are engaged. This helps children to remain interested and promotes a love of learning.
• Older children are becoming increasingly independent. They help to set the table for lunch, put on their own shoes and coats and tend to their own personal care needs. Staff who work with older children teach them about the importance of good hygiene practices, such as handwashing and toothbrushing. However, staff in the baby room do not consistently follow good hygiene practices themselves. For instance, they do not always wash their own hands after wiping children's noses. This does not help to reduce the potential spread of infection and hinders children's good health.
• Staff have regular supervisions with the manager and receive some feedback on their practice. They access a wealth of training opportunities to help them in their role. However, the feedback staff receive is broad and does not focus sharply on how to improve their knowledge and skills further. Consequently, there are some minor weaknesses in the quality of education. For instance, not all staff implement the curriculum intent effectively. This means some activities lack focus and do not extend children's learning even further.
• Partnerships with parents and other professionals are strong. Parents are incredibly happy. They receive ongoing feedback about their children's development and their day at nursery. Parents praise the staff and appreciate the levels of communication. They have a good understanding of how they can extend children's learning at home. This ensures continuity of care and learning for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consider children's next steps more carefully when planning and implementing activities
• support staff in the baby room to follow good hygiene practices consistently, such as handwashing, and teach children why this is important
• strengthen the feedback staff receive to raise the quality of education to the highest level.