Windermere Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are excited to come to this nursery. When they arrive, they race ahead of their parents as they rush to go inside. Four-year-old children shout 'I can't wait to see what we are doing today'. Young babies, who have just started at the nursery, settle very quickly. They snuggle into staff who encourage them to look at the photos of their family displayed on the wall. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Children have strong relationships with skilled staff, who know them exceptionally well as individuals. They benefit from the highly effective curriculum that is led by their interests. Staff offer exciting and stimulating opportunities that build on what children already know and can do. This results in children being deeply involved in their play and helps them develop a broad range of skills.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. From a young age, children are very respectful to each other. Young babies smile as their friends join them in the sand pit. They pass them a spade, so that they can join in with filling buckets with sand. Four-year-old children help their friends to open bottles of paint. They praise their friends as they paint a rainbow saying 'wow, that's amazing'.

Children's independence skills are impressive. When one-year-old children sneeze, they use sign language to indicate to staff that they need to wash their hands. Two- and three-year-old children work together to set the table ready for lunch. They negotiate roles, deciding who will put out the knives and who will put out the forks. They jump up and down in excitement, as they are praised for following the nursery's 'golden values'.

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

• Throughout the day, children benefit from high-quality interactions. Staff sensitively observe children to monitor their progress. They recognise that children need time to explore independently to develop their problem-solving skills. When staff do interact to extend children's learning, their interactions are consistently strong. They ask children thoughtful questions and make sure they have adequate time to respond. Two- and three-year-old children become engrossed by the story of 'The Gruffalo'. They laugh enthusiastically, as staff change their voices for the different characters. Later, they retell the story with their friends, negotiating roles.
• Staff plan activities skilfully, using the information they gather about the experiences children have at home. They use every opportunity available to broaden the experiences children have. For example, children tell staff about a great white shark they have seen in a book at home. This leads on to a discussion about the pet fish the children look after in nursery. Staff extend this even further by providing children with a range of different fish to dissect and explore. Children learn new words, such as 'scale' and 'gills'. They show awe and wonder as they dissect the fish to see if it has bones inside. This leads on to further discussions about the different habitats sea creatures live in.
• Children learn all about eating healthy and nutritious food. They tell visitors about the vegetables they have grown at the nursery. Children have the opportunity to help chop vegetables up ready for their lunch.
• Children display high levels of involvement with exploring outdoors. Children move confidently in the outdoor area, exploring a vast range of opportunities. They manage risks well, helping each other to move a tree trunk, explaining to each other to look on the ground before placing it down so they do not 'squash their toes.'
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the nursery. They comment on how much their children find out about other cultures and diversity. Parents feel this broadens the experiences children have. They receive daily updates about their children's development and activities they could do at home. During the COVID- 19 pandemic, parents were invited to attend online support groups and courses on topics, such as behaviour. They comment that this has been invaluable for them to develop friendships with other parents and access support when needed. Parents say they would wholeheartedly recommend the nursery to other parents.
• Children who receive additional funding, such as pupil premium and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are supported very well. Staff are skilled at identifying children who may need additional intervention. They work exceptionally well with outside agencies to ensure there is a collaborative approach to children's learning. Children with SEND make rapid progress from their starting points.
• The management team support staff to develop their practice to the highest level. Staff benefit from ongoing mentoring, alongside regular appraisals and peer-on-peer observations. All staff know what they do well and what they want to do next to improve their practice. They are actively encouraged to access the vast range of bespoke training that is available to them. Staff consider the impact training has on their practice and apply what they learn. This commitment to staff's professional development results in excellent teaching from highly skilled staff, that contributes significantly to children's learning.