The Treehouse Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are exceptionally well cared for by staff who thoroughly understand their needs. All children, including babies, are encouraged to be independent. For example, babies respond to staff who use their names, and hand out face cloths to their friends after snack time, matching the spoken name to each child. This builds children's sense of self-confidence and helps them to learn to link words to their meaning. All children, including babies, rapidly develop excellent speaking and listening skills. Babies blow bubbles to help develop their mouth muscles. They delight in waving the bubble wand to make new bubbles. Babies respond to simple instructions from staff, who promote their speaking skills. Staff repeat noises that babies make, and leave gaps for them to respond in the conversation. Staff help children to learn new vocabulary, such as 'vitamins' and 'protein', and explore how these things support their bodies.

Staff use their knowledge of each child to balance children's engagement equally. They recognise where more-confident children may dominate conversations, and take care to give less-confident children the same opportunities to speak and to listen. This helps all children grow in confidence and to be ready for what is to come next. Staff show genuine interest for things that children say, and this helps children to know that their feelings, thoughts and ideas are equally valued. Children develop a high sense of self-worth and build resilience to setbacks.

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

• Staff make skilful use of small-group activities to focus sharply on children's learning needs. They ensure that children recall things they have learned, to help embed what they know and can do. Staff are fully aware that effective language and literacy skills support children to access the whole curriculum around them. Children are swiftly developing literacy skills to support their future learning. They show considerable concentration skills as they engage enthusiastically with stories. Children link words to the sounds they make and demonstrate their understanding of letters and sounds, for example that 'kiwi' starts with 'K'. They then link 'K' to names of people around them. They make rapid connections, embedding skills to help them become fluent future readers.
• Staff help children to understand how to keep themselves safe while taking managed risks. For example, children create an obstacle course. They stretch out their bodies as they step, jump and climb between crates and blocks. Children modify their course to challenge themselves further and check that they can stretch farther and farther from block to block. Staff remain close by to give reassurance but let children do this for themselves. This helps to build children's self-esteem and sense of achievement. Staff help children to thrive and to be ready for what is to come next, for example school.
• All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make rapid progress from their starting points. Staff are thoroughly attuned to each child's individual needs and they provide support, experiences and activities that help each child reach their full potential. Staff are extremely aware of children's emotional well-being. They support children to recognise and respond to their own personal feelings and to recognise how they can manage these when they feel overwhelmed or stressed. Children are kind, supportive and understanding to their friends. Staff use stories such as 'The Rainbow Fish' to help children value how they share with their friends and how their actions can make others feel.
• The provider has worked very hard to maintain the quality of the provision since the last inspection. She provides careful support and well-managed oversight to ensure that standards are maintained to the highest level. Staff report that they feel very well supported. They have access to multiple training opportunities to maintain their excellent professional development. Relationships with other professionals in children's lives are very well managed. Children benefit from the very close links that the provider has forged.
• Parents are highly enthusiastic about the setting. They praise the dedication of the staff team to meet their children's needs and the highly individualised care that the children have. Parents particularly praise the thorough support that the setting gives to help them navigate relationships with any other services involved in their children's lives. They are thrilled with the communication from the nursery, especially where children have specific needs. Parents praise the mindfulness and awareness that staff have of children's individual backgrounds.