Upperthorpe Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive eager and ready to start their day. They demonstrate that they are happy as they confidently leave their parents and quickly settle in their individual rooms. Children benefit from warm interactions with caring and nurturing staff. Babies seek out their key person for cuddles and reassurance. The setting places a high priority on developing a robust key-person approach. This helps children to develop warm relationships and supports their emotional well-being.

Staff are passionate and dedicated. They provide a well-planned sequenced curriculum indoors with good-quality open-ended resources and experiences. This enables children to explore freely and engage fully with a variety of learning opportunities. Children are keen to explore the exciting indoor environment. Older children navigate around the nursery, excitedly choosing activities that spark their interest. For instance, staff teach children about nature and the planets. They explain how some planets are hot and how the sun and moon cause an 'eclipse'. This helps to develop children's communication and language skills and an understanding of the wider world.

Children's behaviour is good. They show a positive attitude towards their learning as they become fully engrossed in activities. For example, toddlers concentrate as they make marks in foam and explore paint. This helps to develop their small muscle skills. Staff plan opportunities for children to develop their physical skills. For example, children propel themselves on wheeled vehicles and kick large balls in the garden. This helps to support their large-muscle development, balance and coordination.

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

• Children develop a love of books as staff read their favourite familiar stories. Babies excitedly lift the flaps in a sensory book and giggle as they see their faces in a mirror. Staff support older children to develop their vocabulary by introducing new words, such as 'scorched' and 'colander'. Staff encourage toddlers to join in with familiar rhymes and songs. This helps to develop children's listening and speaking skills.
• Children have access to outdoor play and learning during some of the day. However, the outdoor environment is not as effectively planned as that indoors, and does not provide children with as many purposeful experiences. This means that children who prefer to learn outdoors do not get as many learning opportunities.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well. Staff identify and refer swiftly when children need additional support. They collaborate with a wide range of professionals, such as health visitors, speech and language therapists and osteopaths. Children benefit from individual learning plans. This helps to ensure that children receive the right support at the right time.
• Relationships with parents are very positive. Staff have regular discussions with parents and provide ideas of things they can do at home to support their children's learning. Parents comment that staff prioritise children's well-being and that they would highly recommend the setting to others.
• Overall, staff embed routines of the day well. For example, staff explain to babies when it is time to go outside and help them to prepare for the transition. Older children understand when it is time to tidy up. However, routines in some rooms are not as organised as at other times during the day. This means that children are not always supported to fully understand expectations and develop their independence skills.
• Children learn about being healthy. They enjoy highly nutritious snacks and meals prepared by the nursery chef. Children know to wash their hands before they eat their lunch. Staff explain to children the importance of removing 'germs'. This helps children to understand the importance of health and hygiene routines.
• Leaders use evaluation well to identify the strengths of the setting. Peer observations and regular meetings provide leaders with an understanding of any gaps in staff's knowledge and skills. Leaders recognise that some of the newer staff would benefit from further training, coaching and mentoring. That said, they ensure that there is a range of staff qualifications and experience in each room. This means that there are always positive role models for newer staff in all areas.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop the curriculum in the outdoor area to provide more varied learning experiences for children, particularly those children who prefer to play and learn outdoors
• organise daily routines more effectively to help all children develop their independence skills and remain engaged at all times
• strengthen the ongoing training, coaching and mentoring of new staff to help raise teaching to a consistently high level.