The Valley Nursery and Kids Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Managers and staff have worked extremely hard to enhance the quality of the environment for children. Children benefit from exciting and purposeful play areas that help them to regulate their feelings and behaviours in a calm atmosphere. For instance, staff have created relaxing spaces for children who are able to use sensory lights and equipment. All children benefit from a curriculum that has been specifically designed to strengthen children's emotional development. This includes children forming close relationships with their key person and their friends who attend nursery with them. Children show that they feel safe and secure, separating easily from their parents on arrival and eagerly greeting their friends. Staff support children to talk about how they are feeling and to understand how their feelings and behaviours may impact on others.

Staff offer encouragement to children throughout all aspects of play and learning. They celebrate with children when they show pride in their achievements. For example, staff show others a model of a toy castle a child has created using recyclable materials. Staff and children join in offering compliments and praise. This helps to promote children's self-esteem.

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

• The quality of interactions between staff and children is strong and is occasionally outstanding. This includes specific focused time in an on-site wooded area. Children use clipboards and pencils to note how many different insects they can find. They show that they are highly engaged in their play and learning. Children work together to lift logs and stones and make new discoveries about different insects and where they live. They make comparisons between insects when using magnifying glasses. For example, children note that some insects have lots of legs and others have wings, so they can fly. Children talk enthusiastically about a favourite story of a worm when they find one in the garden. This demonstrates children's good language skills.
• The dedicated manager is passionate about the setting for children and staff alike. She places a strong emphasis on promoting the well-being of staff, children and parents. She evaluates the setting very well and is aware of priority areas. She gathers the views of others to help her to enhance and make improvements to the setting. This includes capturing the views of parents. Staff benefit from extensive training and regular supervision sessions. For instance, they have experienced visiting another setting to gather ideas and to help them to enhance their own practice at the setting.
• Risk assessments are prioritised. Children are supported to understand how to keep themselves safe. For instance, they talk about the importance of wearing sunhats and cream when the weather is too hot outside. Staff are vigilant and support children to learn how to tidy away toys and resources after use.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported. Staff use individualised plans for children to help them to understand the nursery routine. Children benefit from small-group focused activities that help them to develop their social skills. Children show that they make good progress in all areas of their development.
• Staff encourage children to develop their physical skills. They model how to squeeze and grip play dough in their hands to help to develop children's grasp. Furthermore, staff offer encouragement as children learn to climb steps to a slide in the outside area. Children learn to coordinate containers full of water to fill drainpipes and tubes and laugh as they watch the water rush down.
• Children benefit from healthy meals and follow good hygiene practices. This helps children to understand how to lead a healthy lifestyle.
• Managers complete practice observations on staff. This helps them to identify and address any emerging weaknesses in practice. However, children are still getting used to some changes in the nursery. This is particularly relevant for pre-school children. During group activities, some children are confused about which group they belong in.
• Some transition arrangements do not provide children with enough time to finish what they are playing with. This is particularly relevant when staff announce it is the end of play time too abruptly.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on performance management procedures to help to identify emerging gaps in practice, particularly when introducing change to children's routine
• enhance transition times at the setting to help children to prepare for the end of their play time before introducing the next part of the daily routine.