The Purple Playhouse

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this warm and nurturing environment. They arrive at the nursery with enthusiasm, ready for their day. Children display positive attitudes towards learning and are eager to participate. Staff interactions are of a high quality and relationships are strong between staff and children. For example, staff plan adult-led group activities for their own key groups. During these learning opportunities, staff skilfully allow children the time they require to share their opinions and to answer open-ended questions. Children talk about their experiences from home confidently. They talk about recent holidays and respectfully listen to others. This nourishes children's self-esteem.

Staff provide children with access to an effectively organised, calm and well-resourced learning environment. Each area is an inviting place for children to learn and provides opportunities based on children's interests and next steps. For example, staff teach children about Spring, and children spend significant periods using one-handed tools in the garden to explore the soil. They interact with each other, taking turns to speak, and laugh with excitement when they find insects. They engage intently in their play. Other children paint pictures of flowers, exploring different creative materials to make their design. Children demonstrate impressive behaviour while at the nursery. Staff support them to learn the rules and routines through careful explanations. Staff offer praise at every opportunity to reinforce children's positive behaviour. Staff help children to develop an understanding of their emotions. They provide multiple areas for children to self-regulate and refer to pictures displaying emotions to help them explain how they feel.

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

• Staff create their own unique curriculum, which focuses on personal, social and emotional development and communication and language. Staff recognise the importance of these two areas and the impact they have on all other areas of development. There are clear learning intentions for each age group, which are sequenced to build on prior learning. The process for identifying next steps for children is securely embedded in daily practice.
• The quality of teaching at this nursery is excellent. Staff pitch learning perfectly so that children can achieve and be challenged. For example, during a story time, the youngest children, who have only recently learned to focus for a short time, join in with familiar animal names. Staff encourage them to answer questions about where the animals live and their characteristics. Children maintain their focus throughout the group time with support from strategically placed members of staff. Staff have extremely high expectations of all children, including the very youngest.
• Staff promote communication and language development through highly thought-out strategies. For example, there is protected time for stories in the daily routine, where adults read stories with animation and props while children listen eagerly. Staff sign when interacting with children to develop their understanding and offer a method for nonverbal communication. Children use familiar words during play, and staff introduce new vocabulary, such as 'stem' and 'petal', when teaching children about flowers. Staff play sound games with children to develop initial sounds recognition.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is exceptional. Staff are quick to identify any concerns and immediately have conversations with parents. Staff implement support, and referrals are made quickly. Staff communicate and consult with parents at every step to ensure parental views are always considered. Children benefit from one-to-one time with a key adult to practise individual skills. Children with SEND make significant progress in their development, and external agencies are complimentary of the learning opportunities staff provide for these children.
• Parent partnerships are a strength of this nursery. Staff build strong relationships with parents through highly effective communication. Parents receive regular written updates about their children's learning through an online platform, and staff take time to give thorough verbal feedback every day. Staff demonstrate their willingness to go above and beyond to support families by offering guidance outside of nursery hours to ensure children are getting the best experiences. Parents comment on the support staff offer relating to speech delays, behaviour strategies, toilet training and building children's confidence. This ensures consistency between home and nursery.
• There is a strong focus on staff well-being at this nursery. Staff receive unwavering support from managers and leaders, who develop their own knowledge to be able to support others. Recently, staff have had access to sessions with inspirational speakers and spa days to build their self-esteem and contribute to their well-being. Staff receive regular supervision meetings to discuss any concerns. Leaders enable staff to continually build on their own professional development, supporting them to gain higher and specialist qualifications.
• Leaders have clear visions and aims for the setting, where they strive for every child to reach their full potential. Leaders are passionate and inspire all staff to deliver the vision. For example, staff work closely with the school staff in reception to share practice ideas, such as how to link phonics teaching. They are currently working on a joint program to support children with SEND who are transitioning into reception.