Toddlers Inn Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children revel in the opportunities they have to enjoy learning outside in the fresh air. They know how to keep themselves and others safe when playing outside, and relate the rules to younger children. For example, children show care and consideration for others as they tell their friends that they must look after nature. Children, even those in the baby room, understand the high expectations staff have. For example, they voluntarily take turns. Very young children say 'your turn', while older ones take turns on the hammock outside.

Children are unfailingly polite and their behaviour is exemplary. In the allotment, children learn about nature. For instance, they feed the chickens and help to collect the eggs. Children are developing the skills they need in readiness for the next stage in their learning. They observe the life cycle of a frog, noticing the changes in the tadpoles as they grow. Children grow a variety of fruit and vegetables, which are used in the healthy snacks and meals provided for them to eat. They thoroughly enjoy the challenging and motivating activities that staff plan for them. For instance, children enjoy rolling eggs through a tube and measuring how far they travel. When the eggs get stuck, they show high levels of perseverance and work collaboratively to extract them. Children experiment with different sized sticks and arms until they are successfully released.

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

• The manager closely monitors the good quality of education and care that staff provide. She observes staff teaching children daily. Staff benefit from regular meetings with the manager where she provides helpful feedback to support their future practice. They make good use of frequent training opportunities. Leaders and staff are reflective and have plans to improve the facilities, for example to develop the outdoor provision in the winter.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. In addition to the daily verbal feedback, parents receive when they collect their children, they receive written feedback through the online system. This helps parents to know what their child's next steps are. Most parents make contributions to their children's online assessments.
• Staff routinely monitor the progress of their key children. They plan engaging activities to support the good progress children make. Where there are delays in learning, the special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCo) works with staff and parents to provide learning experiences to address these gaps. Where progress continues to be slow, the SENCo involves the expertise of external professionals to ensure that children receive the support they require.
• Staff support the development of children's speech and language effectively. Babies and the youngest children benefit from sessions where they learn to understand non-verbal communication. They recognise that smiles and frowns indicate how a person is feeling. Staff develop the vocabulary of older children. For example, children cut out paper for 'bones' and the adult introduces the word 'skeleton'.
• Children can recognise and write initial sounds. They are some opportunities for mark making. However, opportunities for children during independent play to practise their early writing skills are not well promoted. Occasionally, children are not extended in their learning. For instance, when children talk about how to make mud, they are not encouraged to record this in their own way.
• There are varied activities to support children's mathematical skills. Toddlers make modelling dough, counting the spoonfuls of flour and deciding which colour to use. Others count the small tyres they use to build their towers outside in the fresh air. Adults skilfully question children to support their use of mathematical language. This helps children to use comparative language and to recognise common shapes in their environment. Older children measure how far their eggs travel beyond the tube, helping to expand their vocabulary as they use words such as 'longer' and 'further'.
• The nursery has good links with local schools and other settings children attend. Information is shared to ensure a consistency of education and care. The nursery works with schools and other settings on joint projects, such as curriculum provision.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide more opportunities for children to explore their early writing skills in all areas of the environment, to develop further their interest in literacy
• ensure that all staff use the spontaneous opportunities that arise in play, to challenge children further.