Winchmore Hill Day Nursery and Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in this stimulating and child-centred environment. Staff build extremely warm relationships with children. They consistently interact in a positive and nurturing manner. Staff respond to children's needs exceptionally well. They respond to children with calmness and sensitivity, offering timely reassurance or gentle distraction when needed. This enables children to feel secure, happy and engaged throughout the day.

Leaders plan an ambitious and creative curriculum, which benefits all children. Staff plan a wide range of interesting and exciting learning opportunities to support children to make progress in their learning. For example, staff use the focus on art in the setting to help children to make progress in all areas of their development. Staff support children's physical development as they squeeze and twist their tie-dye t-shirts. Children make progress in their language skills as they talk about the patterns and colours they can see while mixing paints. They develop in their self-esteem as they proudly talk about their pieces of art on display.

Staff support children to behave very well. They explain their expectations very clearly and offer warm and descriptive praise to help children understand what they have done well. For example, children smile proudly as staff clap and say, 'Wow, you are sharing beautifully.' Staff teach children to use good manners. For example, children say 'please' and 'thank you' as they pass the food around at lunchtime. This supports children's friendships and emotional development.

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

• Staff support children with their personal, social and emotional development exceptionally well. They carefully consider how to teach children of all ages to learn important skills, such as sharing and turn taking. For example, staff support young babies to take turns to put pom-poms into a bottle very well. They help older children to work as a team as they take turns to use foam and blocks in their construction. Developing these skills helps to prepare children well for the next stage of their learning journey.
• Staff's interactions with children are of a consistently high standard throughout the setting. In the baby room, staff sing, read books and narrate as babies play, giving them time to respond to what they are saying. They respond to babies' cues and name what they are pointing at. As children get older, staff use a varied and interesting range of language with them, which children then use in their play. For example, children talk about doing an 'excavation' and 'demolishing' their construction. These consistently high-quality interactions support children to make excellent progress in their language development.
• Staff skilfully support children to build excellent focus and concentration.
• Children are consistently enthralled in their play and develop a thirst for learning new things at nursery. For example, toddlers explore vegetables in soil with fascination and excitement, and babies focus exceptionally well as they play in the sand. Developing this excellent focus and attention helps prepare children very well for their future.
• Staff know every child very well. They have an excellent understanding of their key children's interests and how to use these to help children to meet the next steps in their learning and development. Staff carefully consider how to ensure that children make progress in all areas of the curriculum.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. They provide targeted interventions and support to help children to close any gaps in their learning. Where necessary, staff work closely with external professionals. They use strategies that professionals have recommended so that children make progress towards their individual targets. Staff work closely with families to ensure that support at home and nursery is consistent. This means that children make excellent progress on their individual learning journeys.
• Leaders have an excellent understanding of what good practice looks like. They provide targeted and effective professional development opportunities. Leaders draw on staff's strengths and support staff to develop if there are any gaps in their practice. This leads to consistently high-quality staff practice across the setting.
• Staff build strong partnerships with parents. They communicate regularly via an app and verbally to feed back to parents about what children have been doing during the day and the next steps in their development. Leaders provide plenty of opportunities for parents to talk about any queries or concerns they may have so that these can be addressed swiftly. These strong parent partnerships help children to transition well between home and nursery.