Toad Hall Nursery Watford

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time in this welcoming nursery. Sensitive daily routines, such as waking children gently and supporting them to participate in activities, contribute to the warm relationships children build with staff, and help them to feel safe and settled. Children are confident and show high levels of self-esteem, assured that their views are valued. For example, all older children participate in the 'children's forum', where they help make decisions, such as how to participate in World Book Day. Children respond to staff encouragement and support and are confident to try new experiences and join in with discussions.

Children's behaviour is good. Toddlers understand the routine and readily follow instructions. Older children reflect staff's caring attitudes and are kind to one another. Children play well together, building on each other's ideas and negotiating the rules of their games. Children have many opportunities to develop their physical skills. For instance, babies use furniture to pull themselves up to standing. Older children develop balance and core strength as they climb across ladders balanced on wooden supports. They learn to keep themselves safe as staff encourage them to assess the risks involved. Children learn about differences. For example, they access artefacts and books from around the world.

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

• The management team continuously reviews all areas of the nursery, involving staff, parents and children in making improvements. Daily procedures, such as a notice board to highlight staff performance, help staff to feel valued.
• Staff have a good understanding of the progress children have made in relation to their starting points. They offer children activities that support them in taking their next steps in learning, giving them opportunities to practise their new skills through repetition. For example, babies develop physical skills as they use spoons to fill containers with flour. Robust monitoring and a thorough knowledge of each child ensures that all children make good progress and no child falls behind in their learning. Additional funding is spent effectively to support children's development.
• Staff support children to develop their communication and language skills. They narrate children's play and help them to learn new words. Young children show their enjoyment as they sing songs. Older children use their good language skills to explain their play. Staff speak clearly and use visual aids to help children communicate. This particularly helps children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Staff ensure that children can access books in all areas of the nursery. They support children well so that they quickly develop a genuine enjoyment of books. For instance, younger children explore craft resources related to a favourite book, using these to make their own illustrations. Older children playing outside stop to read a book, laughing as they remember the words and what happens next.
• Children are developing a good understanding of mathematical concepts. For example, they use pretend money in their play. They compare how many coins they each have, saying 'You have more than me, I need one more and we will have the same'.
• Children are confident to organise their own play. For example, older children use their imagination as they make 'strawberry cakes' in the mud kitchen. They develop physical skills as they hold pans and use spoons to mix their ingredients.
• Staff understand the intention of activities. They generally support children well so that children enjoy taking part and their development is promoted. However, on occasion, staff do not individualise activities sufficiently and encourage children to think critically and solve problems, to help promote their development to the optimum.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Celebrations and stay-and-play sessions help parents to feel welcome in the nursery. Parents report that they appreciate the nutritious meals their children have and the contribution this makes to their healthy development. Parents speak highly of the staff and appreciate the regular communication regarding children's care needs. However, staff do not always focus the support to parents to help them build on their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to further develop their teaching skills and consistently extend children's play and activities, for example through individualising activities further and encouraging children to think critically and solve problems
• focus support for parents more precisely, to help them build on their children's learning at home.