The Railway Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this nursery. They are happy, safe and have excellent attitudes towards learning. Children love to share with visitors what they enjoy doing at nursery. Children are making excellent progress in all areas of learning and development. This is due to experienced staff having high expectations for all children. Children are highly involved and engaged in their learning throughout the day. They talk respectfully to staff and each other. Children play incredibly well with their friends. They regularly share their ideas and thoughts with each other. Children demonstrate high levels of self-control. They are resilient and keep on trying when they encounter difficulties. Staff offer lots of praise to children to encourage them. This builds children's self-esteem.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff are always close by to support children sensitively during their play and learning. Children work cooperatively with their friends to problem-solve and test out new ideas. They wait their turn and share incredibly well. Children demonstrate a thorough understanding of the nursery rules and follow these impeccably. They are exceptionally independent. Children take ownership and responsibility for the nursery environment. They tidy up after themselves and look after the resources and their surroundings.

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

• Leaders have an ambitious curriculum that gives children the knowledge and skills they need to prepare them for their next stage in learning. Staff are highly trained and extremely knowledgeable about how to best support young children to make the highest levels of progress in their learning and development.
• Staff plan meaningful learning opportunities that support children to build on what they already know and can do. Children concentrate and participate incredibly well at all times. Staff encourage children to recall prior knowledge and skills. They then sensitively introduce children to new and exciting concepts. Staff continuously talk to children about what is happening now and next, so all children transition beautifully well between routines.
• Children make excellent progress with their communication and language development. Staff model different words to support children's growing vocabulary, such as 'root', 'erupt' and 'plaque' during an activity to help children develop a deep understanding of oral health. Staff and children share many songs and books every day. Staff read to children in expressive voices. This ignites children's interest and they become deeply immersed in the story.
• Children are incredibly polite and use their manners extremely well. Interactions between staff and children are of a high quality and contribute to each child's individual learning needs. Children listen attentively when staff are speaking. Staff encourage children to think critically, problem-solve and test out their ideas. Children articulate themselves effectively to staff, who listen and encourage them to share their feelings. Therefore, children are very secure.
• Children learn lots of different ways to keep themselves healthy. They enjoy eating nutritious home-cooked meals together at the table. Children have ample opportunity to learn outside. They dress themselves in wet-weather clothes and have lots of fun jumping in muddy puddles and digging to find bugs and hidden treasure. Children have exceptional imagination skills. They use old water pumps as 'ice-cream stations' to serve their friends. Children learn to take risks and explore the natural environment during forest school sessions.
• Staff provide children with a rich set of experiences that support them to learn about the world around them. Children visit the library and choose books to take back to the nursery to share with their friends. They enjoy taking regular trips to the train station and travel on the train. Children recently enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant. They developed their social skills and practised their speech and language skills as they communicated with waiters. Children learned about the value of money as they paid for their meal.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported very well. Tailored plans and strategies are put in place. Staff support the less confident and quieter children effectively. They know children incredibly well and adapt their level of help to meet children's needs. Therefore, all children are ready for their next steps in development.
• Leaders continuously identify ways to enhance the nursery environment, such as the outdoor area, to improve children's experiences. Staff are incredibly well supported by leaders who prioritise their well-being. Staff access a wealth of valuable training courses. These are tailored to meet the needs of every child. Staff have recently completed training on how to understand children's behaviour. This has had an incredibly positive impact on children.
• Parents speak very highly of the nursery. They comment that their children's individual needs are always met. Parents feel that they are a part of their children's experience at nursery. They talk about how staff share important information with them effectively. Parents feel very confident to continue supporting children's learning at home due to the guidance they get from staff.