Western Elms Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and secure at this welcoming, home-from-home nursery. They have very strong relationships with staff, who spend time getting to know them well. Children benefit from stimulating play spaces and eagerly explore the enticing learning experiences alongside their friends. For example, babies enjoy messy play activities and show high levels of curiosity as they hunt for hidden objects. They clap and splash with foam and laugh and giggle as they watch it float through the air. Toddlers look for bugs in the garden. They peer through magnifying glasses with anticipation and excitedly discuss what they see.

Staff focus on children's independence skills from a young age. Older children learn how to use tools safely and independently cut up fruit for their snack. They naturally pour their own drinks and demonstrate good hand-eye coordination. Children in the pre-school room discover more about the food they enjoy as they make their own pancakes together.

Children behave well. They willingly share resources and are kind and respectful towards each other. Staff promote a culture of helping children to understand how to self-regulate their emotions. Should a small dispute occur, staff sensitively talk to children and give them strategies that help them to overcome their feelings. They offer children lots of cuddles and reassurance when needed, which helps them to feel safe and secure.

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

• The management team is passionate about ensuring that staff are empowered to take responsibility for their key roles. Since the last inspection, management have developed a clear plan for professional development, training and support. Staff morale is high. They say they feel listened to and supported by the managers.
• Staff regularly assess children and plan a well-organised curriculum that builds on children's ongoing learning. The special educational needs coordinator works closely with staff and other professionals to ensure that any gaps in children's development are closed swiftly. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress from their starting points.
• All children have plenty of opportunities to practise their literacy skills. For example, babies roll balls through paint and use their fingers to explore different textures. Toddlers are keen to experiment with different mark-making tools. Pre-school children confidently act out different roles, pretending to be a doctor, for example. They are imaginative and write out prescriptions for their patients.
• Children of all ages delight in fresh air and physical exercise throughout the day.
• Older children confidently balance across beams and learn to take safe risks on climbing equipment. Babies build on their core strength as they move backwards and forwards on the seesaw.
• Staff support children to develop their understanding of language. For example, they encourage children to describe textures and to recall the ingredients they used for making dough. However, at times, in their enthusiasm, staff working with older children are a little directive. They do not consistently give children time to problem solve and express their own ideas, to take children's learning to the highest level.
• Staff embed children's backgrounds and ways of life into the setting. This means that children instantly feel welcomed and valued. For example, children make flags and discuss the different countries from which they originate.
• Parents speak positively about the nurturing staff team. They say staff genuinely care about their children and work closely alongside them to ensure continuity in their child's care and well-being. Staff use a variety of methods to keep parents informed of children's progress. However, they do not offer all parents ideas and suggestions about how they can continue to support their children's learning at home. This will promote a more united approach to helping children progress in their development.
• Staff skilfully engage children in conversation about healthy eating during activities such as pretend play. This helps to develop children's understanding of ways to keep themselves well. Parents report that, since starting at the setting, their children are eating a wider variety of healthy food at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support older children to develop their thinking and problem-solving skills to the highest level
• build on relationships with parents even further to offer them ideas and suggestions on how they can promote their children's learning at home.