The Rises

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff care about children and want them to achieve their full potential. This gives all children a good sense of belonging and spurs them on to acquire lots of new skills.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have worked hard to help children to develop their confidence. This has worked very well in practice. Children smile as they enter the nursery. They show a can-do attitude as they take part in a wide range of activities, such as threading pasta tubes to make necklaces. Babies ooze with confidence as they cruise, crawl and walk in their safe environment. This also helps them to develop their physical skills and growing independence.

Leaders and managers have also developed a curriculum that focuses on supporting children's communication and language. Children sing songs and relish story time sessions. As a result, they benefit from lots of opportunities to learn new words.

Children are well behaved and show caring attitudes towards each other. For example, pre-school children read stories together in the well-resourced library. They also show kindness to their friends as they help them to name the different dinosaurs in the book.

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

• Leaders and managers have made significant improvements since the previous inspection. They have created a culture where safeguarding is embedded throughout the nursery. Staff share this vision and do their utmost to ensure that children are safe and secure.
• The quality of education has improved, due to changes implemented by leaders. Most staff focus on what children need to learn next and offer good levels of challenge. This helps children to make connections between their learning. However, some staff are not as confident in applying the new ways of working. This leads to some gaps in the curriculum, which does not provide the right opportunities for all children.
• There is a strong focus on mathematics. Pre-school children are able to match the right number of pasta tubes to the correct numerals. Toddlers enjoy singing number songs and babies are beginning to place objects inside tubs. Children also use mathematical language during their play. For example, as children recall a story about the Jubilee, they proudly declare that 'Queen Lizzie has four dogs and 50 horses.'
• Children's personal development is promoted well. They benefit from nutritious meals and snacks, which are freshly prepared. Staff also work closely with parents, so that babies' stages of weaning are in line with their home routines.
• Transitions to schools are carefully considered. Children enjoy playing in their pretend school. They point out photos of their new teachers and are enthusiastic as they practise their mark making on the whiteboard. Children also flush with pride as they show off their self-care skills. For example, they beam with happiness as they change into their school uniforms in super quick time.
• Children have many opportunities to learn new words, such as stegosaurus, which helps to widen their vocabulary. However, children occasionally mispronounce words and staff do not model the correct pronunciation. This does not help children to hear and learn the correct words.
• Staff have worked hard to help disadvantaged children to catch up with their peers. They have used funding to meet their individual learning needs. For example, funding has been used to purchase a 'turn-taking teddy'. This has helped children who need a little bit of help to wait patiently for their turn.
• Parents value the work of the staff, leaders and managers in supporting their children's development. One parent described her child's progress as 'unbelievable'. Staff communicate well with parents, for example, by using different modes of communication. This means that all parents can receive information about their children's progress.
• Children have a good sense of belonging at the nursery. They are well behaved and extremely happy. Children have equal access to all resources regardless of their gender. This helps them to develop positive attitudes about differences and equality, which prepares them well for life in modern Britain.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to extend staff knowledge to enhance further the quality of education
• ensure there is an effective approach to help children hear correct pronunciation.