Two Little Birds Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff are passionate about the care they provide children and want them to feel valued and heard. They plan activities that are determined by the children's interests and place them at the heart of everything they do. Staff have been teaching children about volcanos after they showed an interest in them. They provide children with information, such as what they look like and how they might sound when they erupt. Children use this knowledge to create and sculpt their own interpretation of a volcano, using clay. Staff create an environment that is engaging and rich with open-ended resources to support children's curiosity.

Staff run daily forest school sessions and weekly beach school sessions to support the implementation of the curriculum. Leaders want children to be confident and resilient learners, and they use these sessions to promote children's personal, social and emotional development. During forest school sessions, children confidently ask questions about insects they find in the woodland. Staff use these opportunities to extend children's learning as they encourage them to observe different insects. When they curl up in a ball, staff inform children they are showing signs that they are scared. This natural interaction supports children's emerging interests and helps them to learn about feelings and caring for the environment.

Staff consistently reinforce rules and boundaries and empower children to manage their own risks. They ask children to recall safety rules, such as how to keep safe when they sit around the fire circle. Children confidently say how they must walk around the outside and shout 'red dragon' if they see anyone step inside the fire circle.

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

• Leaders have created a culture where staff and children feel valued and listened to. Staff report high levels of well-being and understand their responsibilities. However, some staff and leaders are new to the setting. Although improvements have been made to the curriculum delivery, some staff roles and responsibilities are still not clear or embedded to consistently support the smooth running of the setting.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and children who may need additional support, are making good progress. Staff know the children well and consistently support their individual needs. For example, staff skilfully encourage children who are developing their social skills to share experiences with others. They follow the children's interests, such as when children are looking at the petals of flowers, and they encourage other children to share the experience. This gentle interaction helps children build their confidence and social skills.
• Children are confident communicators. They talk about events outside of the setting, such as when they visited the doctors. Staff show genuine interest in the things children talk to them about. They ask questions, such as what the doctor said and if they had to have an injection. These spontaneous interactions naturally help expand children's vocabulary and support their conversational skills.
• Children's physical development is supported very well. They spend most of their day outside and have plenty of opportunities to be physically active. For instance, children independently climb up equipment and understand they must always have three points of contact on the equipment. Even the youngest children have the opportunity to practise these skills and are given the space to manage their own risk. Older children work together to carry logs and branches to hold down big pieces of paper, so that they can create pieces of artwork.
• Staff allow children to make decisions about being healthy. For instance, children choose when they want to have something to eat and are provided with fresh fruit and vegetables at snack times. Children bring in their own lunches and decide when they have had enough to eat. They revisit their lunch box when they feel hungry. Staff encourage children to learn to listen to their bodies and make decisions based on how they feel.
• Parents are happy with the care their children receive. They have daily communication with staff about how their children are progressing, as well as updates via an online platform. Parents particularly like how the setting is child centred and that children spend most of their time outside. They report how their children's confidence has grown and how they know they are learning things, such as being able to name different flowers.
• Children are highly motivated and eager to share their experiences with each other. For example, they bring back shells they found at the weekly visit to the beach to show others. Staff use books to refer to and teach children about the different types of shells. Children use the patterns on the shells to create pieces of art that they proudly show others.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen and embed roles and responsibilities to fully support the smooth running of the setting.