Treetops Castle Garden

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident and move around their rooms selecting the toys they want to play with. Pre-school children run around the garden safely, chasing their friends and ride sit-on toys skilfully using the pedals. They safely climb and balance on the equipment and shout, 'I've done it', as they jump off the obstacle course. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make close relationships with the staff. They snuggle to look at books and follow staff's instructions, such as tidying up at lunchtime.

Children have an eagerness to learn and take part in activities the staff plan. They have a positive attitude to their learning and engage in activities for long periods of time. Toddlers relish making the dinosaurs stomp among the fir cones and smell the herbs as they play. They manipulate the play dough, laughing and giggling as they poke leaves into the dough using their fingers. Two-year-old children scream happily as they play in the water. They pour and fill up jugs and use words, such as 'full' and 'empty' to develop early mathematical ideas. Pre-school children develop their imagination as they play shops. Staff extend this play and encourage the children to use the till to help them recognise numbers. The children use money and say, 'That will be three pounds please'.

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

• The manager is passionate about her role and strives for improvement. Since the last inspection, staff now support children's emergent writing throughout the nursery. Children enjoy making marks and pre-school children learn to write their name, which also aids their future learning. The manager encourages staff to improve their practice. Staff have attended in-house training to support them in understanding how to ignite children's curiosity in learning.
• Partnership with parents is a strength. Parents speak highly of the nursery and are aware of the progress their children are making. Staff share children's next steps with parents and show them photos of what their children are doing while at the nursery. Parents comment that they feel the manager and staff are supportive and the nursery is home from home.
• Staff find out information about the children from their parents when they first start the nursery. They enquire about the experiences the children have at home and extend these further. For example, the children have the opportunity to borrow books from the nursery's library. Staff plan activities such as a 'sponsor read' with parents to encourage children to look at books at home.
• Staff foster children's independence well. They encourage children to try to do things for themselves across the nursery. Toddlers know how to use hand gel and pre-school children can tell staff that they wash their hands to get rid of the germs. Children learn to put on and take off their coats and shoes from an early age and pre-school children zip up their own coats in readiness for school.
• Staff are good models for children's behaviour and encourage children to think about others, share and take turns. Staff working with the toddlers remind them to take care when pushing the dolls around in case they hurt their friends. Pre-school children show good self-regulation as they play together. For example, they remind others to share the crayons as they colour in their pictures of teeth. Staff praise two-year-old children as they share the bricks while they build towers.
• The manager and staff understand how children learn and plan interesting activities for children. For example, children build the three pigs' houses using large building bricks outside. They repeat the phrase 'I'll huff and puff and blow the house down' and have fun knocking the houses down. However, at times, some staff do not focus enough on what it is they want children to learn from the activities they plan.
• Staff promote children's language skills, overall. They talk to children at their level, read stories and sing songs. However, staff working with the younger children do not always name an object or toy as they are talking to explain what children are playing with. For example, they say 'it, those' or 'them' instead of saying the noun. As a result, staff are not fully extending younger children's speaking skills or increasing their vocabulary.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop how they model language, to include the use of nouns to name objects and toys, in order for younger children to hear words and extend their speaking skills and help to increase their vocabulary
• strengthen staff's understanding of the intentions for planned activities to help enhance children's learning.