The Playroom

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

When staff open the door to this friendly, family run nursery, the children greet them with huge smiles and high fives. Children show that they have a sense of belonging as they go to their peg to hang up their coats and bags. They take off their shoes and add them to the shoe box, showing great independence. Babies confidently seek reassurance from familiar staff and demonstrate close relationships with them. This has a positive impact on children's emotional development and helps to ensure that they feel safe and secure. Children are polite as they ask their friends 'excuse me, please may I have some pine cones?'. They are kind to each other and share and take turns well.

Older children check the lunch menu in the hallway and think about what fruit might be in the crumble today. They comment that they hope it is not 'Gruffalo crumble' from a story they have read recently. With the help of staff, children are developing a good understanding of number, for example, as they count the number of stairs and recognise numbers during a game of bingo. Outside, children learn new words that are introduced by staff, such as 'full', 'empty' and 'decant' as they fill cups, buckets and watering cans, saying 'stop' when full to the top. They carefully negotiate the steps down to the mud kitchen and show pride in their achievement as they exclaim 'I didn't spill a drop!'.

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

• Staff have clear rules and boundaries in place and give children gentle reminders about these. For example, when children run indoors, staff ask them what they should do. Children reply and say that they 'need walking feet inside'. When staff engage children in planned activities, they talk to them about the rules at the start of the activity. For example, staff remind children to listen and take turns with their friends.
• Staff help children to learn new words. For instance, toddlers learn words such as 'herbivore', 'carnivore' and 'omnivore' when they play with dinosaurs. Staff create a 'question of the day' and research using books and the internet to find the answer. However, sometimes, staff do not correct misconceptions. For example, when children jokingly say they are eating 'red pears' and 'blue nanas', staff do not respond to ensure that younger children hear the correct vocabulary.
• Children learn about diversity and the wider world through discussions and activities that build their awareness of cultural events and celebrations during the year, including organised visits linking the nursery with the local community. For example, they have visits from the fire service and dentists. Staff gather key words and phrases from families who speak English as an additional language to aid communication. Parents are involved in all aspects of nursery life and comment that 'the nursery feels like an extended family'. Parents who are scientists have led sessions to inspire scientific thinking, and others to support cultural diversity and celebrate family. This develops the children's understanding of people and the place where they live.
• Children enjoy a well-thought-out curriculum. However, during transition times, such as mealtimes and coming inside from outdoor play, staff deployment is not organised consistently well. This means that there are a few occasions when children are not involved in purposeful play as they are spending some time waiting for others to finish.
• The owner and manager, who are mother and daughter, are passionate to lead the family run nursery. Many staff have been employed for a number of years and they report that morale is high and they feel very well supported. The unique key-person system in place allows staff to support children throughout their whole nursery journey, from being a baby through to their eventual move to school. All staff have opportunities for continual professional development to build on their current teaching skills and to support individual children, including through training.
• Staff provide opportunities and experiences that give children an understanding of how to lead a healthy lifestyle. They ensure that children wash their hands regularly, have daily physical exercise, and eat nutritious meals. In addition, children have regular opportunities to visit parks and woodland with the use of the nursery minibus. Children climb trees, balance on logs, build bridges, jump in puddles and roll down hills. This helps to enhance their physical skills and allows them to manage risk and solve problems.
• Staff recognise that some children have needed more support with their emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. They teach children to express and manage their feelings. For example, during the morning 'welcome' session, staff hold conversations with children to help them understand how they are feeling and how their behaviour may impact on others.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to recognise the importance of correcting any misconceptions to further develop children's language and understanding
• help staff to organise some parts of the daily routine to ensure that children are engaged in purposeful play at all times.