The Sheffield City College Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and their families are greeted in a spacious and welcoming reception area that reflects the diversity of the families using the nursery. Children arrive happily and ready to play. They choose their name label and place it on their peg. Staff provide a tray for each child where they can put things. This helps children to have a sense of belonging in the nursery. Children happily wave goodbye to their parents and feel safe in the nursery.

Staff are affectionate and enjoy the company of babies and young children. They sit among them as they sprinkle and scoop rice. Children blow, clap and laugh. Staff recognise what children are learning during activities. For example, they know that playing with the rice develops children's fine motor skills. Staff support children to learn new vocabulary and make shapes with their mouths to help begin to form words. They support individual children, such as by offering breakfast to children who arrive late and sitting alongside them as they eat. Staff use simple language and accompany key words with sign language to help all children feel included.

Staff develop the children's love of books and reading. Children anticipate the enjoyment and connection of reading together and gather around staff in the reading area. Staff read with expression, ask questions and praise children so that they are engaged and interested. Staff listen to individual children and enthusiastically encourage their language and interactions. Children learn to listen to each other and to take turns with resources.

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

• Children have free-flow access in each room to an enclosed outdoor area and can choose where to play. They have freedom and space to explore safely. Leaders say this is important because some children do not have access to an outdoor area at home. Staff are enthusiastic to continue to develop the more natural outdoor area.
• Staff gather children's starting points from parents. They recognise the importance of children being given time to settle so that they become happy and confident learners. Leaders design a curriculum that is adaptable and helps them to decide what needs to be taught next. Staff plan activities to incorporate children's celebrations, the community and children's interests. They focus on younger children developing a sense of belonging, and on communication and language skills.
• Staff offer children sensory activities based around topics, such as cutting up and exploring vegetables. Children touch, smell and explore pumpkins. Staff work well as a team and support each other. However, some staff hurry their interactions with children, which does not give all children time to process and respond.
• Staff provide children with a home-cooked lunch each day. Leaders design a varied menu that represents the diversity in the nursery. Children sit together at tables and have time to practise using cutlery. Older children help to lay the table and line up to be served with lunch. They carry their plates back to the table and staff encourage them to pour their own drinks. However, not all children know what is expected and staff support is not consistent. As a consequence, some children are unsure about what is expected of them.
• Staff teach older children to brush their teeth at the beginning of the afternoon. However, despite a routine, there are occasions when some children are not engaged and some staff do not deal with minor conflicts between children consistently.
• There is an established key-person system throughout the nursery. Staff take time to get to know children and their families. They share information with parents in daily conversations, parent meetings, reports and through an app.
• Parents say that the setting is 'marvellous'. They say that staff have helped them to find support and information about their children, especially children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and who speak English as an additional language. Parents say that staff recognise gaps in their children's learning and set up activities for individual children. They report that their children make excellent progress, especially in their communication, language and singing. Parents comment that when they have a concern, staff listen and respond quickly.
• Leaders carry out regular supervision meetings and appraisals with staff where they identify staff's training needs. They have introduced improvements that include key staff being included in meetings with outside agencies and other professionals. Staff say this enhances their practice and their understanding of working with other agencies and professionals.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve planning for group activities so that all children have time to process information and respond
• review mealtimes for older children so that they have clear guidelines and understand what is expected of them
• develop a consistent approach to supporting children's behaviour so that they know what is appropriate and can learn to regulate their feelings.