Willow Tree Day Nursery and Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery happy and confident. They receive a warm welcome from staff, which helps them to settle quickly. The strong relationships between the children and their key workers ensure that children's self-esteem and confidence are well supported. Children are confident communicators and are eager to engage in conversations as they play. Children benefit from an exciting environment which captures their interest and motivates them in their learning. The child-focused environment is welcoming and vibrant.

Children behave well and show high levels of concentration. They respond well to the clear routines and boundaries set. Their behaviour is further enhanced because staff are very good role models and have high expectations for all children. Staff provide a curriculum that fully supports children's independence and social skills. Activities are tailored to cater to the individual needs of all children. As a result, children have a strong sense of belonging and unity at the nursery. The staff team has an inclusive approach. This helps children to develop a valuable understanding of themselves and other cultures beyond their own.

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

• Leaders and managers have a strong vision for the nursery. For example, they ensure that staff provide an exciting curriculum. This helps to enrich children's experiences through well-planned activities, both indoors and outside.
• Leaders provide an inclusive environment that meets the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, they make good progress from their starting points.
• All staff feel supported and enjoy their role within the nursery. This has a positive impact on children's care, learning and progress.
• Staff offer children wholesome foods, which helps them to learn about healthy food choices. Children also experience sociable mealtimes as they sit and talk to their friends and key workers. These experiences contribute to their communication skills and personal development.
• Children benefit from wider learning opportunities. For example, they take part in extra-curricular activities, such as music, football and forest-school sessions. Children also have good opportunities to learn about their local community through regular outings, such as trips to the retirement home and visits to the local library.
• The manager and staff work closely with parents to promote children's well-being. They listen carefully to parents' views when children start at the nursery and continue to involve parents in their children's learning.
• Parents' professional skills are fully utilised as they visit the nursery to talk about their different roles. For example, a parent who is an architect taught the children how to build their own village. These meaningful experiences help children to gain awareness of different occupations and ways of life.
• The environment for babies does not consistently support them to develop the highest levels of engagement. This is because the limited space affects the range of activities provided. Furthermore, the limited space means that sleeping arrangements do not provide the most restful and undisturbed sleep for babies.
• Communication and language are a strength throughout the nursery. For example, babies babble and are beginning to use single words. Older children use complex sentences and recall past events as they look at photos. Children also learn an array of new words, such as 'elder shrub' and 'wriggling', which widens their vocabulary.
• Strategies for early screening of communication and language are used to help identify any potential gaps in the children's development. This helps to speed up the referral process should any early intervention be required.
• Leaders prioritise training and development to support staff to continually extend their qualifications and expertise. Staff are making very good use of knowledge gained from recent training to support children's communication and language. Occasionally, staff knowledge of how to promote aspects of literacy are not as strong when children are wanting to learn to write.
• Children are well behaved and show respect to their friends, such as when they they take turns and share resources. They are eager to join in with activities and demonstrate a can-do attitude. This helps children to develop their resilience and deal with challenges. These are important skills that set them up for future learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• organise the environment for babies to further enhance their care and learning needs
• strengthen leaders' intentions for delivering a wide curriculum in all areas of learning.