The Spanish Nursery and Children's Centre for Culture and Language

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly welcomed in Spanish by their key person as they arrive at the nursery. Parents share important information as they hand over their child. The effective key-person system supports children's emotional development, which helps them to settle quickly. Children respond well to the friendly staff as they eagerly enter the room.

Staff create a calm environment for children to learn in. Staff are attentive to the needs and wishes of children and form good relationships with them. They reassure children when they are upset and support them to manage their own feelings. Staff regularly praise children for their efforts and achievements, boosting their self-esteem. Babies delight in receiving a 'high five' as they successfully place the ball into the snowman-shaped goal. This supports babies to learn what is expected of them.

Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. Children follow rules and routines independently. Older children help to tidy up the classroom before going outside. They show pride in telling the staff what they have put away by themselves. Staff teach children about ways to say sorry, such as offering a hug or a toy to make their friend happy again.

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

• Children enjoy the range of home-cooked and nutritious meals they are given. Staff sit together with children to model good eating habits and engage them in mealtime discussions. This successfully encourages all children to take pleasure in eating a wide range of healthy lunches. Staff teach children how to keep themselves healthy. They promote self-hygiene as they regularly wash their hands and clean their teeth after lunch. Children are given opportunities to be physically active both inside and outside.
• Parents and carers are confident that their child is safe and well cared for in this nursery. They comment on the approachable and loving staff that care for their child. Parents appreciate the regular communication between themselves and the nursery. For example, staff share further activities for parents to do at home based on what children have been learning about at nursery. This supports strong parent partnerships. Parents and staff work together to meet the needs of the children.
• Staff fully promote children's communication and language development. Children learn to communicate well in Spanish and English. Staff model conversation skills that children confidently copy as they engage in effective two-way conversations with their friends and the staff. Key phrases are reinforced through repetition, gestures and songs. Children have regular access to stories
• Inspection report: The Spanish Nursery and Children's Centre for Culture and Language 2 5 February 2025 and are read to from books in both Spanish and English.
• Staff provide a range of activities that offer opportunities for children to develop in all areas of learning. Children are motivated to explore and engage well in their learning. However, leaders and staff are not always confident in how they can put the curriculum intent into action through their teaching. As a result, the aims for some activities are very broad. This means that teaching is not always precisely focused on what individual children need to learn next.
• Children of all ages have daily access to the garden, which staff use to support their physical development. Older children kick footballs to each other, build tall towers, climb, balance and slide. Children create fun running games that allow them to exert their energy and exercise their bodies. However, babies do not have the same opportunities as the older children, and they do not benefit from well-thought-out outdoor play experiences.
• Leaders ensure that all staff have a thorough induction when they start working at the nursery. This ensures that all staff have time to learn their roles with support from senior staff members. Once staff have completed their induction, leaders ensure that they have regular supervision. The supervision sessions enable staff to highlight their professional development needs to ensure continual improvement. Staff share that they feel supported by leaders.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to have a clear understanding of the curriculum intent so that their teaching is consistently focused on what they want children to learn
• monitor the curriculum for babies' outdoor play more closely to provide a richer range of play experiences to further support babies' learning and development.
• Inspection report: The Spanish Nursery and Children's Centre for Culture and Language 3 5 February 2025