Windmill Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are relaxed and confident and demonstrate they feel safe in this welcoming and inclusive nursery. Children are fully occupied in activities of their choosing. Children enjoy making play dough. They listen intently to instructions as they measure, add ingredients and mix the dough. Children use their imagination and creative skills as they make 'burgers' and 'caterpillars' using dough and natural materials. Babies laugh and giggle as enthusiastic staff encourage them to reach out and catch bubbles. They thoroughly enjoy exploring bath foam.

Children learn to be independent. Babies start to feed themselves, two-year-old children learn to put on their own coats and older children manage their own personal care. Children behave well. Staff help to develop children's understanding of healthy practices. Children choose from a variety of fresh fruits at snack time, play outdoors for long periods each day and learn the importance of good oral hygiene. Children develop a love of books and stories. They learn to recognise and write letters of their name. Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is strong. Children learn a wide range of skills and attitudes that help to prepare them for their next stage of learning and their eventual move on to school.

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

• The leadership of the nursery is strong and effective. Expectations are high, and there is a strong commitment to developing a high-quality provision. The manager, who is also the owner, and her deputy have a clear vision for children's learning and share the broad, ambitious curriculum effectively with the staff.
• The manager and her deputy have a comprehensive knowledge of the children who attend. They closely monitor children's progress. When staff and managers identify gaps in children's learning they provide additional support, such as small group and one-to-one sessions to help children to catch up with their peers. The manager and staff work closely with outside agencies to ensure targeted plans are in place.
• The manager provides effective supervision, training and support to enhance staff practice to help to achieve the best possible outcomes for children.
• Dedicated staff closely observe children and identify focused next steps for their learning. They plan a wide range of ambitious activities that link to children's interests and learning needs. The garden area for children over two and a half years of age is a hive of activity, which promotes children's curiosity and motivation to learn. Children enjoy the freedom to explore. They run, climb and use wheeled toys. Children join in sensory activities using fresh herbs and talk about the smell of the mint. Staff introduce new vocabulary as they talk about the 'aroma' that is 'released' when they squeeze the plant. However, the garden area for children under two and a half years of age does not fully support children's learning potential, as staff have not yet developed the area to help to promote children's skills in all areas of learning. This does not support children who prefer to learn outdoors.
• Communication and language development is a strength of the nursery and a focus. Staff use every opportunity to promote children's learning in this area. As children play, staff skilfully ask questions to extend their learning. Staff foster children's interest in books. They create welcoming areas where children can enjoy stories or read independently. Children join in songs enthusiastically.
• Staff are very attentive and, overall, interactions with children are good. However, at times, staff do not fully promote mathematics as children play and learn to help them to build further on what they already know.
• Children learn to manage their emotions and behaviour and to understand the impact of their actions on others. Throughout the Nursery, there is an extremely strong focus on being kind and caring towards one another. Children regularly hug the kind and caring staff and spontaneously cuddle each other. They behave well.
• Children's experiences in the Nursery are enhanced by the strong partnerships between managers, staff and parents. Parents comment on the good progress their children make during their time at the Nursery and the high levels of support children with SEND receive. Parents receive regular information about their children's progress. Staff include parents in the assessments of their children's learning. Parents say their children have 'come on leaps and bounds'. They say their children are 'excited to attend' and, at home, talk about the 'funny things staff do'.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to enhance the outdoor learning environments for children under two and a half years of age to provide learning experiences that are rich, varied and stimulating, particularly for those children who prefer to learn outdoors
• enhance the teaching of mathematics to help children to build further on what they already know.