Treetops Wellington Road

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery is over three floors and has an exciting outdoor space, where children play and learn. The manager and staff are developing the curriculum to help children to explore, experiment and gain knowledge and skills. Children new to the nursery settle well with good support from their key persons. Throughout the day, staff share photos with parents to show what children are doing and how they are learning.

Babies have space to play and rest in their room. They use low-level furniture and the windowsill to pull themselves up to look out at the cars. Staff offer praise and encouragement as they keep trying. Children explore wooden blocks. They laugh excitedly when they knock down the tower they have built. They listen as staff talk with them and they follow instructions to build the tower again.

Toddlers practise physical skills. Indoors, they have a play space with a climbing frame, slide and balance blocks. They take part in games with a parachute or calming exercises to help them relax. Pre-school children use the outdoor garden to play imaginatively. They use short tree branches as pretend axes and saws. They talk with staff as they invent storylines for their play about chopping down the trees. Staff offer reminders about being careful and encourage children to assess risks to keep themselves safe.

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

• The manager reacts to changing circumstances well. Wherever possible she tries to limit the impact of issues connected to COVID-19. She keeps families informed about any changes to staff and/or closures that may need to happen. The manager and staff talk with parents regularly. Staff share ideas with parents to help children develop skills and build on learning at home. Children receive consistent support and make good progress.
• Partnership with parents is good. Parents comment that they get good feedback about what children have done during the day. Staff make sure that they find out about children's home life. They ask about home languages, family celebrations and extended family members. Staff help children create displays of their families. They talk about what is the same and different. Staff use words in children's home languages to help children learn and understand routines. Children understand that staff value them and learn about what makes them unique.
• Overall, staff implement the curriculum well. They gather information about what children like and enjoy and use this to plan activities. Sometimes, the activities are not sufficiently engaging or challenging, so children choose not to join in.
• Staff support children's mathematical development. Staff working with the babies model counting as children build with blocks. Toddlers listen to descriptions of bee pictures on cards and then try to find the matching pair. Staff give clues, such as how many legs, wings, shapes and sizes. Children hold out suggestions. Staff offer praise for trying and then provide more clues. Pre-school children compare sizes of toy dinosaurs and use scissors to cut round shapes. They talk with each other about the shapes. They say whether they are bigger or smaller and work out how many they have cut out altogether.
• Children develop resilience and confidence. Staff encourage children to put on their coats, pour their own drinks and use cutlery to eat. They recognise when children need extra support. For example, they use signs as well as words to explain changes to children. Staff work with parents and other professionals to prepare all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, for moves to new rooms or school.
• Children's behaviour is good. They concentrate during activities and share well. Staff talk with children and encourage their learning. However, staff sometimes miss opportunities to include quieter children as they are concentrating on the small group they are working with.
• Staff provide messages for children about being healthy. They set up activities to explore foods. Pre-school children investigate different fruits and vegetables. Staff talk about how food provides energy and keeps children healthy. Children describe the smell, texture and taste of tomatoes, bananas, oranges and carrots. Staff extend children's skills. They encourage children to paint the fruit and vegetables on cut-out shapes. Children recall that mixing red and yellow paint together creates orange to paint the carrot shape.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the way that staff take notice of and involve quieter children in learning activities
• build on the way that staff use children's interests to plan for what children need to learn next.