Woodlands Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy, and they settle quickly into the nursery. Parents and carers drop off and collect their children at the school reception. Here, they are greeted by staff they know and who they are familiar with. Staff quickly resolve any minor signs of distress. They are kind, warm and caring. Staff provide children with cuddles and reassurance. Close relationships form between staff and the children. This supports children's emotional well-being and helps them to feel safe and secure. Simple rules teach the children to behave well. Children line up to move around the different areas of the school. They listen to instructions well and tidy up when they are asked. Staff use a range of teaching strategies with children to help them understand right and wrong. Older children begin to self-regulate their own behaviour well. This prepares them well for their next stage of learning and eventual move to school.

The environment, indoors and outside, is organised to enhance children's learning and provide them with experiences that build on their skills and knowledge. Daily access to the outdoor area challenges children. They skilfully run, climb, balance and manoeuvre wheeled toys to build their physical strength. Staff hold high expectations for all children to be the best they can be. The curriculum is ambitious. It is regularly reviewed and adapted to meet the individual needs of the children attending.

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

• Leadership and management are strong. The nominated individual is an active member of the team. A programme of regular supervision provides all staff with the support and training they need to carry out their roles and responsibilities to a high level.
• The well-designed curriculum covers the areas of learning well. Its implementation is sequenced so that children acquire the range of skills that they will need to be successful in their future learning. Experienced practitioners use their knowledge of the children to successfully engage them during activities. They praise children for their achievements, and this results in children who have good levels of self-esteem.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is very good. Staff make accurate assessments of the children and swiftly identify any emerging gaps in their learning. Good partnerships with parents and other agencies ensure that the children gain access to any additional support at an early stage in their development.
• Teaching is good. Staff place a high value on children's communication and language development. The use of pictures supports children where their language is emerging. Staff repeat words and encourage sounds that children make. Older children think about words that begin with 'f'. Children remember the 'fruit' from snack time. Outdoors, children play in the sand tray. They 'scoop' the sand using spades and think about the different spade sizes, such as 'big', 'small' and 'medium'. Indoors, the children use their imagination as they create an 'Antarctic' in a tuff tray. They explore the texture of foam to make snow. Staff ask children to think about the Eskimos who live in this region and how they live? What their house might be like? Children's imagination sparks as they talk about the bricks that they might need to make an igloo. The activity is limitless and follows the children's lead.
• Children begin to count and solve simple problems in everyday activities. During group times, they talk about the days of the week and the numbers that make the date. Staff encourage children to use simple addition and subtraction in daily routines, and children confidently count to 14. Children learn about different celebrations throughout the year and the different families that make up our diverse communities. However, this could be further integrated into children's learning so that they become more familiar about the range of different families outside of their own experience.
• Staff encourage all children to become independent. Some children manage their own personal care needs well. At mealtimes, children sit together and socialise. They form nice friendships that support cooperative play. Outdoors, they plant apple seeds. Children help each other and take turns to water the seeds.
• Partnership with parents and carers is good. Parents/carers reported that they are very happy with the childcare. They said it is very supportive of parents and children. Information shared by staff helps them to continue their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop how you support children to further build their understanding about the wide range of different families, outside of their own personal experience.