Treetops Ashbourne

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and are warmly greeted by staff, who know the children and families very well. Staff understand each child's interests, home environment and developmental stage when they first join as they take the time to gather information from parents. They build strong bonds with the children and offer warm, sensitive and caring interactions.

Children enjoy selecting what they would like to play with from a wide selection of attractively presented activities. Staff are well deployed across the nursery and engage with small groups of children, and individual children, guiding their play. This supports children to fully engage and sustain their concentration in what they are doing. Children love learning because staff think carefully about how to spark children's curiosity and interest. Older children concentrate well as they create pictures using natural materials, such as leaves, shells and stones.

Staff respond calmly and sympathetically to young toddler's feelings and emotions. Young toddlers learn how to manage their feelings and resolve conflicts calmly. Older toddlers behave sensibly and are kind to their friends. Children in the pre-school room explain rules that keep them safe, such as limiting how many children play on the obstacle course at the same time.

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

• The nursery has developed a broad curriculum for children based on promoting children's curiosity. The leadership team provide support, guidance and training to help staff to understand the aims and goals for all children to achieve. However, the staff team have varying levels of understanding of how to implement the curriculum. Consequently, some staff working with toddlers are more able than others to deliver the curriculum to promote children's learning.
• Staff plan activities effectively to support children's language and literacy development. They read, sing, play and talk with children throughout the day. Babies begin to join in singing rhymes, copying actions that staff model. They confidently point to the tractor as staff read a story about a farm. Older children develop a knowledge of new words as they pretend to be doctors and talk to staff about how they are going to fix a broken arm. They develop a keen interest in stories and enjoy borrowing their favourite books to take home.
• Staff introduce numbers and some mathematical concepts during daily routines and when joining in with children's self-chosen play. However, the curriculum for mathematics is not planned and delivered as well as other areas of the curriculum to challenge children's learning. Staff do not always consider what children already know and build on their existing knowledge.
• Staff plan activities to support children's expressive arts and design skills exceptionally well. They provide learning opportunities that entice children and engage them in learning important knowledge. For example, they teach children about different artists, such as Georgia O'Keefe and discuss the different landscapes she painted. Staff encourage children to recall previous learning and children talk knowledgeably about the artist and remember she lived in America. Children enjoy representing their own creative ideas with a variety of media.
• Partnerships with parents are a strength of the nursery. Staff share children's development daily with parents and provide parents with ideas of play experiences that they can provide at home. For example, staff make story packs to send home with simple resources parents can replicate. Parents feel they are well supported to continue their child's learning at home.
• Children are taught skills they need to become increasingly independent. Staff teach toddlers how to blow their noses, and the importance of disposing of tissues, and washing their hands afterwards. Babies learn to feed themselves and explore different toys following their own interests. Older children help each other to find different bugs and record what they have found as they complete a scavenger hunt.
• Children have lots of opportunities to be active in the fresh air, develop their physical skills and learn about what contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Babies enjoy exploring a dedicated outdoor area, toddlers pour sand and water into containers to support the development of their small muscles. Pre-school children play with bats and balls and all children benefit from healthy home-cooked meals and snacks.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support all staff to consistently implement activities to promote the planned curriculum intentions for toddlers
• develop further the delivery of the curriculum for mathematical development to extend children's mathematical knowledge.