Willow Tree Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are cared for in a warm and welcoming environment. They settle quickly when they enter the setting. Strong key-person relationships enable children to develop firm attachments. This contributes to children's feelings of security and enables them to explore the well-resourced environment confidently. Staff know their key children very well.

Children have opportunities to explore the local community and take part in trips out. They visit the library and local gardens. They have access to a nursery lending library to promote their literacy development and extend their learning in their own homes.

All children make good progress in the setting. Staff have a clear perspective of the curriculum and how to promote children's development. Using regular assessments, they monitor children's ongoing progress, ensuring activities are challenging and engaging. Each child has an individualised plan, incorporating their interests and focusing on the next steps in their learning.

Children are supported well to manage their feelings and resolve conflict. Staff explain about the importance of being respectful to friends and showing kindness. They encourage children to take turns and introduce activities that enable them to develop patience. Children can express their feelings during circle time. They celebrate their friends' achievements and model staff's encouragement to persevere in play.

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

• Leaders have worked hard to address actions from the previous inspection, revisiting the curriculum and providing training for all staff. Leaders support staff to develop their practice through regular peer observations, supervision sessions and ongoing training. Staff feel supported and their well-being is protected through regular check-ins.
• Staff enable children to progress with their communication and language skills. They use ongoing chatter to talk about what children are doing both in the setting and at home. Younger children spontaneously sing and recite rhymes as they go about their play. Staff extend children's growing vocabulary as they introduce new words, such as 'lava' and 'volcano', and encourage the growth of imagination.
• Staff guide children through activities, which supports their physical development well. Children have opportunities to ride around the garden and climb up the slide. Younger children are able to practise their crawling and walking skills as they move around the room. Staff provide healthy and balanced food during meals and snacks to promote children's well-being. However, there is a lack of discussion about the food being eaten and making healthy choices to contribute to overall good health.
• Children use routine counting throughout the day, for example as they clap the date of the month. They engage in focused activities to promote number recognition using numbered mats and labelled activities. However, there is less emphasis by staff on children's understanding of positional language and of quantities.
• Staff work closely with schools to ensure children have the required skills to support them in their learning journey. Staff ensure children are emotionally prepared by encouraging them to express themselves and seek help from a trusted adult if needed. They invite teachers into the setting and help children to familiarise themselves with the routine of a school day.
• Staff support children who need additional support particularly well. They invite other professionals into the setting to enable a multi-agency approach to ensuring children's individual needs are met. They seek guidance and advice from other professionals to guide tailored care.
• Children's independence is promoted well. As children progress through the setting, staff build on their existing skills to prepare them for transferring to school. Staff support children to serve their own food and pour their own drinks. Children take off their coats and shoes after outdoor play and put them away.
• Parents are extremely complimentary about the service provided. They feel that their children have progressed significantly since attending the setting and value the ongoing updates provided by staff. Parents are aware of who their child's key person is and value all staff knowing their child's needs. Parents feel the care given to their children is exceptional.
• Although feedback is given by others in the form of day-to-day verbal satisfaction, consideration could be given to formalising the seeking of feedback to further contribute to the quality and evaluation of the provision.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• maximise opportunities for mathematical learning to enhance positional language and children's spatial reasoning skills, with particular regard to measure and quantity
• consider seeking feedback from parents and others to contribute to self- reflection and evaluation
• promote children's understanding of healthy eating to improve their knowledge and develop healthy habits.