Toad Hall Nursery Chessington

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff provide a warm and welcoming environment. Children happily arrive and are eager to see their friends and feed the fish. They quickly settle down and independently choose from a wide range of activities and resources. For example, young children enjoy exploring the texture of foam and laugh and giggle as they make foam 'snow'. Older children delight in making potions as they pour water into different containers. This helps to develop children's physical skills. Staff support children to settle in and feel safe and secure when they start. An effective settling-in procedure is in place to ensure that parents have plenty of opportunities to share information with their child's key person. Children complete several settling-in sessions, which supports staff to learn about children's interests and routines to ensure that the process runs as smoothly as possible.

Staff know children well and build warm and secure relationships with them. Children demonstrate they feel safe and are well settled. They confidently explore the well-planned environment and go to staff when they need extra support or to involve them in their play. Staff support children in how to express themselves and regulate their feelings. They read books and play games, encouraging children to share how they feel by using colours. Leaders and staff have a good understanding of how children learn. Together, they have created a curriculum focusing on children's social skills, communication, being healthy and experiencing nature. They use this to plan weekly activities to ensure that all children make good progress and reach their curriculum goals.

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

• Staff support children to develop a good understanding of healthy lifestyles. For example, children enjoy a healthy and nutritious seasonal menu. They learn to follow good hygiene procedures, such as washing their hands before mealtimes. Staff plan plenty of opportunities for children to be outdoors and to engage in physical exercise. For example, children play in well-resourced gardens and have weekly forest school trips.
• Staff are well supported by leaders, who are passionate about the nursery and their staff team. Leaders support and coach staff effectively to continue to develop and build on their knowledge. For example, they complete regular room observations and give feedback to staff. Staff also attend monthly staff meetings to discuss updates and reflect on what the nursery is providing and how they can improve.
• Leaders and staff have good relationships with parents, and they provide regular opportunities to involve them and keep them up to date with their children's learning. For example, parents are invited in to read stories with children and attend special events, such as sports days and parents' meetings.
• Leaders and staff are highly reflective and constantly look at what they are doing well and what they could do to improve the outcomes for children. For instance, they have recently refurbished the environment, giving staff ownership for their areas. This has resulted in the welcoming and home-from-home environment where children thrive.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. They work closely with parents and other professionals who are involved, and they quickly identify any gaps in children's learning through monitoring their development. As a result, all children make good progress and are well prepared for the next stage in their learning.
• Overall, staff support children to develop their independence skills well during daily routines. For example, younger children learn to feed themselves and pour their own drinks. Staff encourage older children to serve their own food at mealtimes and manage their own care routines. However, at times, during children's play, staff do not always give them enough time to try and do things for themselves, limiting the development of their skills.
• Staff support children's communication skills effectively. They are good role models for language, and they speak clearly and slowly to children. With babies, staff comment on what children are doing or can see. They ask older children open-ended questions to extend their thinking skills.
• Staff are positive role models for behaviour. They give gentle reminders to children about how to behave and encourage children to develop good manners. As a result, children are kind and considerate to each other, and they learn to take turns and share their toys.
• Staff plan a wide range of activities to support children's learning to ensure that all children make good progress. However, at times, some staff need more support in understanding when to follow a child's lead and make the most of an opportunity to extend their learning even further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff in knowing when to take the opportunity to follow children's lead and extend their learning further
• provide more opportunities for children to be independent during activities and to try things for themselves.