Vista Field Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children of all ages build strong bonds with their key person and other staff in the nursery. They arrive and receive gentle support to settle quickly. Younger children enjoy cuddles and positive interactions with staff. They climb into a nook and listen with rapt attention to a story. Children are keen to share their achievements with staff. They receive lots of praise, such as for sitting well. Children feel safe and secure in this welcoming nursery.

Children develop positive attitudes to their learning. They explore the many activities set out for them with enthusiasm. For example, younger children pretend to stomp dinosaurs in a tray filled with soil. Children sit in planned group times and wait for their turn to talk. All children make good progress in their learning and development.

Children learn about how to keep healthy. They eat delicious meals based on the healthy eating guidance for children aged under five years. Children begin to understand portion control, which is pictured on their placemats. They enjoy lots of time outside using large equipment. Children learn to take appropriate risks. In the garden area, they negotiate a nature area with a steep slope and climb a large slide. This helps to build children's self-esteem as they enjoy the success of completing tricky tasks.

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

• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is good. Staff know children well and put individual plans in place to support their progress. This helps children with SEND to make good progress in their learning.
• Children behave very well. They learn to share and take turns as part of planned activities. For example, children share a pot of pins with their friends as they use small hammers to pin shapes onto a cork board. Staff use strategies, such as a sensory circuit and talking calmly about feelings, to help children to begin to understand how to regulate strong emotions.
• The manager is knowledgeable and passionate about how to deliver good-quality education for young children. She accurately highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the teaching that children receive. However, training and professional development opportunities that are intended to support staff to develop their practice are not always effective. As a result, at times, children do not consistently receive a variety of high-quality teaching methods that help them to learn successfully.
• Children make good progress in their mathematical skills. Staff use their interactions with children to introduce a range of mathematical vocabulary. For example, while making play dough, children follow a picture recipe that shows how many cups of each ingredient they need to put in their bowl. In the garden, staff encourage children to estimate how many more trips they will need to make before they manage to fill a tipping toy with water.
• Staff support children to develop their physical skills and to take appropriate risks in their play. Babies quickly gain confidence in learning to stand and walk. They benefit from indoor areas that specifically target their age and stage of physical development. Older children skilfully run down hills and use a large slide outside. Children develop their confidence and physical skills.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced. Children learn useful skills in preparation for school and their future learning. Staff consider children's progress regularly. They use this information to ensure that children are challenged. However, sometimes that challenge is set too high. For example, staff teach children, who are not yet confident in their speech and language, phonics. As a result, children do not always benefit from a curriculum that is based on what they already know and can do.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery. They receive regular feedback about their children's learning and progress. The leadership team signposts parents to other professionals, such as mental health organisations and family support groups. Parents say that they appreciate the parenting support they have received when requested. Staff use strategies, such as a toy bear that children take home, to help parents to feel a part of their child's education.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• target training and professional development opportunities to enhance staff's practice further
• continue to develop staff's understanding of children's next steps in learning so that they are appropriate for children to achieve.