Treetops Silvertrees

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy books throughout the nursery, both with staff and independently. Younger children sit and turn the pages for several minutes, while pre-school children sit together talking to their friends about what they can see in the books they have chosen. This sparks children's appreciation of books and helps to prepare them for their future learning.

Pre-school children learn to make choices as staff carefully explain what activities they have set out around the room. They excitedly decide what they would like to do and settle quickly to their chosen task. All children enjoy a range of activities in the outside area. Younger children build a track using wooden blocks of different shapes and sizes, then practise walking along it. Children benefit from the support and encouragement staff provide. Those that are less confident receive a helping hand as they attempt to balance and develop their large-muscle skills. Older children are closely supervised by staff as they practise climbing and jumping on the large apparatus with their friends. Staff remind children to keep a safe distance as other children enjoy playing on the swing.

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

• Managers and staff encourage two-way communication with parents throughout the nursery. Creative ways are used to encourage parents to share what their children have been doing at home. These include a rota for children to take home a special teddy for the weekend. Children add photos and information to a scrap book to share with others what they and the teddy have been doing.
• Staff generally talk to children about the things that interest them. Children enjoy extended conversations about different characters in their favourite television programmes. This helps children to build their communication and language skills. However, children who have less developed language skills or who are naturally quiet, are not always brought into conversations.
• Older children learn about good hygiene practices and why these are important. They demonstrate their interest as they take part in an experiment using glitter to show how germs are spread. Children show a sense of wonder as they see how glitter on their hands disperses if they put them in a bowl of water and use liquid soap. Staff explain to the children what is happening and why washing our hands is important. Staff introduce new words like 'germs' to extend children's vocabulary, and children are encouraged to talk about what they have seen with their friends.
• Staff encourage children to learn about numbers. They help children to count up to twenty-nine as they talk about the days and dates of the month. Staff support pre-school children to count out acorns and fir cones as they play in a tray themed around 'The Gruffalo' book. However, staff do not always help children to further build on their mathematical understanding of concepts, such as longer and shorter, bigger and smaller.
• Children behave well throughout the nursery. Staff talk with children about the nursery's 'golden rules'. They help them to understand why it is important to listen carefully to instructions and to share resources as they play together.
• Staff identify children who may have additional needs and devise individual strategies to help them make good progress. For example, staff use picture cards to help children who need extra support to understand what is going to happen next.
• Parents say that staff help children to gain confidence and learn new skills, such as using a knife and fork and climbing the stairs safely. They confirm that they are kept informed regarding what their children are learning through photos shared on the family app. Parents value the ideas that staff share regarding how they can continue to support their children's learning at home.
• Managers support staff to continually develop their professional knowledge and skills. They encourage them to reflect on the support they provide for children and help them to access further training.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's knowledge of how to further their conversations to include all children
• clarify the curriculum for mathematics and share this more clearly with all staff, so they are confident to implement it consistently.