Woodentots Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thoroughly enjoy sharing their time with staff, who are welcoming, warm, and kind. Staff place great emphasis on children's emotional security and happiness, understanding that children's basic needs must be met before they are able to learn. Therefore, staff spend lots of time getting to know children and forming secure attachments. This, along with a consistent daily routine, helps children to navigate big life events with minimal disruption. This includes the deployment of parents serving in the military.

Children develop a love of books, stories and rhymes. This helps to expand their vocabulary and supports them to gain early literacy skills. For example, staff provide babies with objects of reference to help them communicate their song choices. Babies fully engage in song time as they babble and copy actions to their favourite songs. Older children are keen to learn new information about things that interest them. For example, children search encyclopaedias for information on tornados. They learn that tornadoes are like a giant vacuum cleaner that 'sucks things up'.

Children develop resilience by persevering with tasks they find tricky. For example, children build structures out of construction toys. They spend lots of time concentrating on bringing their ideas to life. However, some children become frustrated when things do not go to plan. Staff allow children to find their own solutions before stepping in to support them. This helps children develop a sense of pride and a positive attitude towards their learning.

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

• Staff implement a curriculum that is well sequenced and interesting. They know their key children well and focus activities and interactions on what they want children to learn next. Staff use assessment successfully to identify potential gaps in development and take swift action to close these. This helps all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff use children's interests to help them make connections with the world around them. For instance, during lunchtime, older children reflect on what they know about harvest time by identifying seasonal vegetables within their meals. Staff use this as a learning opportunity and explain how root vegetables are harvested. This leads to a discussion about potatoes and the different ways they can be cooked.
• Overall, children learn to be effective communicators. Staff working with babies model clear and simple language well as they commentate on babies' play. Staff provide babies with objects of reference so they can choose what song they want to sing. Babies show delight as they copy the actions to familiar songs. However, on occasion, not all children receive consistent interaction that promotes conversation. For example, during snack time, children who sit furthest away from staff do not receive the same level of quality interaction.
• Children develop an early understanding of mathematical concepts through interesting activities. For instance, older children correctly identify numbers. They then add the corresponding amount of play dough to each number. This helps them learn that number has value.
• Staff use routine activities and opportunities to develop children's independence. This helps to prepare children for their eventual move to school. For instance, older children concentrate intently as they use large spoons to serve their own meals. Toddlers learn how to wash their hands and wipe their own noses with the use of mirrors.
• Children have lots of opportunities to develop their physical skills, both indoors and outdoors. For example, older children dig, climb tall structures with care, and practise their coordination skills as they learn to pedal ride-on toys. Babies strengthen their core muscles as they pull themselves up into a standing position and learn to climb steps. This helps children to develop the skills they will need for future writing.
• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and promote kindness at the earliest opportunity. For example, staff show babies how to touch each other with 'gentle hands', as they show an interest in one another. Older children learn how to maintain friendships and consider the feelings of others. This helps children to develop the skills they will need to form meaningful relationships in the future.
• Parents speak positively about the progress their children make and the support they receive as a family. Parents are kept up to date with their children's progress through regular parent meetings, electronic updates and daily handovers. However, parents do not consistently receive information about changes to their child's key person. This limits the time parents have to prepare children for the imminent change.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide all children with quality interactions that promote and support their developing communication and language skills
• strengthen the way changes to children's key persons are communicated to parents so that children are fully prepared for the change.