The Trees Day Care Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The ambitious curriculum prepares children well for the next stage of their education. As they move through the setting, staff encourage children to take increasing responsibility for their personal care. Older children serve their own meals with confidence and manage daily routines independently. Daily outdoor play supports children's physical health and development. Children benefit from a variety of outdoor areas tailored to their stage of development. For example, older children access climbing walls to develop whole body strength and coordination. This enables children to practise and refine existing skills while extending their abilities through a wide range of resources and challenging apparatus.

An effective key-person system helps children settle quickly and form secure relationships. Staff know their key children well and use this knowledge to plan meaningful experiences that move their learning forward. For example, during sensory play, staff offer children choices, and children decide to add sprinkles to foam. Children comment it looks like a cupcake, and staff extend this to encourage children to talk about different flavours and their preferences. This helps children to recall previous knowledge and share experiences with confidence. Staff offer timely praise and encouragement, which motivates children to persevere and builds their confidence and well-being.

Staff hold high expectations for children's learning. They consistently model respect and good manners in their interactions with children. For example, during play, staff ask thoughtful questions, listen attentively to responses and thank children for their contributions. This helps children feel valued and promotes positive behaviour.

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

• Staff speak positively about the strong support they receive from the provider. Leaders foster a culture of well-being and prioritise staff feeling confident in their roles. Newer staff describe a highly effective onboarding process. Leaders place a strong emphasis on helping staff build secure bonds with children, parents and their colleagues. This approach enables staff to quickly establish the trusting relationships that help children feel safe and settled. As a result, staff work with purpose and consistency, ensuring children receive the security and continuity they need to thrive.
• Parents consistently share positive feedback about the setting. Staff maintain regular, clear communication with parents about their child's day and developmental progress. This ongoing dialogue strengthens the partnership between the setting and families. Due to this, parents feel well informed and involved in their child's learning journey.
• Children behave well. Staff support children effectively during minor disputes.
• They respond promptly and sensitively to disagreements, guiding children to use language to express their needs and negotiate with their peers. Staff actively promote teamwork, sharing and cooperation, and they celebrate positive social behaviours.
• Staff work closely with families to support potty and toilet training. Staff allow children to use the toilet independently, offering reassurance and support when needed or requested. This consistent approach helps children develop confidence in their abilities and promotes self-care skills essential for a smooth transition to school.
• Children demonstrate strong communication and language skills. Staff engage children in a variety of songs, role play and shared activities that promote language development, social interaction and early communication. Staff work closely with families who speak additional languages to understand and value children's home language while also extending their English vocabulary and communication. However, on occasion, staff do not model language clearly to further support children's pronunciation of words and vocabulary development.
• Children actively help tidy up after themselves. Staff give clear direction and celebrate children's achievements effectively. This approach supports children to take responsibility for small tasks. However, at times, staff rush to solve problems when children initially find something tricky. Allowing additional time for children to solve problems for themselves will further promote children's perseverance and resilience.
• The setting fosters a strong culture of reflection and continuous improvement. Staff regularly evaluate their practice and implement meaningful changes to ensure the curriculum and environment remain inclusive, child-centred and responsive to the needs of all children. They use ongoing observations and assessment to monitor children's development closely and identify emerging needs. Staff adapt planning and provision based on this information, ensuring that all children receive the right level of challenge and support to make progress across all areas of learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to model language clearly and consistently to further develop children's vocabulary and pronunciation
• allow children the time they need to complete small tasks by themselves to promote their perseverance and resilience.