The Rocking Horse Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a warm and welcoming environment for children and their parents and carers. Children demonstrate that they feel happy and secure as they enter their rooms with enthusiasm. Staff provide effective settling-in visits that build over time to help children to make a smooth transition from home to the nursery. A well-established key-person system supports each child.

Staff have developed a curriculum that is purposeful and well suited to the needs of all children. Older children engage in a well-resourced water play activity, which includes dolls, brushes and clothing. Staff plan this activity to be rich in opportunities for imaginative play and for children to learn about personal hygiene and self-care. Staff model extended language related to body parts and germs. This supports children's understanding of health and hygiene effectively in a meaningful and age-appropriate context. Younger children demonstrate growing independence as they engage in sand play. They confidently choose tools, using scoops, jugs and containers to pour and fill with purpose. As they experiment with transferring sand, they show focus, control and perseverance.

Children demonstrate positive behaviour and a sense of responsibility as they help to tidy up the environment. Staff use consistent routines, such as shaking a tambourine, to signal tidy-up time. This supports children's understanding of transitions and expectations. Children respond well to putting resources away. They show cooperation and respect for their environment and each other.

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

• Children's communication and language development is a central focus of the curriculum. Staff carefully plan activities to support children's progress in these areas. They closely monitor children's development, so they can make timely adjustments to meet children's individual needs effectively. This contributes positively to children's development and helps all children to make progress.
• Staff support children's communication and language development through engaging storytelling and meaningful interactions. Staff use books and storytelling sessions to introduce new vocabulary. They model rich language and ask open-ended questions, giving children time to think and respond. Children show a keen interest in stories, often retelling them using props and their own words. This helps to build children's confidence and expressive language skills.
• Staff skilfully embed mathematical concepts into children's play. During a dinosaur-themed activity, staff introduce mathematical vocabulary, such as 'tall' and 'small', and encourage children to count the number of spikes on the dinosaurs' backs. This approach promotes children's early numeracy skills and supports them to make meaningful connections between their play and mathematical learning.
• Children benefit from a well-resourced and spacious outdoor area that staff use to promote children's physical development across all ages. Children engage in a variety of activities. For example, they confidently build with large wooden planks, developing their balance, coordination and core strength. They practise throwing and catching balls, which enhances their hand-eye coordination. Additionally, children use large paintbrushes to make marks on vertical surfaces, supporting their fine motor control and early writing skills. These opportunities contribute positively to children's physical health and readiness for future learning.
• Children develop a strong understanding of diversity and cultural awareness. Staff teach them about a variety of cultures and how people may be similar or different from themselves. Staff enhance this learning by taking children on regular visits to places of interest within the local community. They use these experiences to broaden children's understanding of the world around them. This contributes to children's preparation for life in modern Britain effectively.
• Leaders hold supervision sessions with staff to discuss any development or training needs. They have ambitious plans to enhance staff's teaching practice. However, the programme of training and development for staff is not yet firmly in place to extend the quality and consistency of staff's practice.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery and are pleased with the progress their children make. They value the warm, friendly and highly supportive staff team. Regular and effective communication ensures strong partnerships with families, enabling consistency between home and the nursery. This approach supports children's learning and development and contributes positively to their overall well-being.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to strengthen the programme of staff training and development to further raise the quality of practice.