Woodlands Day Nursery and Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at this nursery excited to start their day. They leave their parents and carers happily, as staff warmly greet them inside. Children respond positively to the high expectations staff have of them. They behave well and follow instructions without hesitation. Boundaries and routines are supported with visual prompts and audible signals, which give children time to understand what is happening and respond appropriately.

Children have access to a selection of exciting outdoor and indoor activities where they challenge themselves physically, exploring the different ways their bodies move. Children work together to carry large pumpkins from one area of the garden to another. They are keen to discover what they can do with natural materials in the mud kitchen. Children skilfully use graters, peelers, and other utensils to add ingredients from pumpkins and herbs grown in the garden to their mud pies. This helps to build the small-hand muscles needed to become competent writers.

Children develop a love of books. Babies eagerly join in with the sounds of familiar animals as they sing to 'Old MacDonald' and read 'Dear Zoo'. Older children listen intently as staff read expressively from non-fiction books. Children are intrigued by the meaning of words such as 'herbivore' and 'carnivore.' This is helping all children to develop good communication and language skills while at the setting.

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

• There are many opportunities for children to build on their experiences of the wider world. Children regularly access a local forest school session to develop their emotional and physical well-being. They are also working with the local nursing home to share experiences, such as well-being activities with lavender play dough and face masks. These experiences help children to understand the world around them and the community in which they live.
• Overall, children are supported to develop their independence skills as they play. For example, staff encourage children to put on their own coats and carefully use real tools. Furthermore, toddlers confidently serve their own food and pour their own drinks at mealtimes. However, opportunities for older children to practise and further build upon their good levels of independence are not always utilised during routines, such as lunchtime. Some staff offer their support too quickly and do things for children that they could try to do for themselves.
• Staff encourage children to talk about how they are feeling and support them to manage their feelings when they encounter difficulties. For example, children tell each other if something makes them sad, and they relate this to a familiar story, 'The Colour Monster'. This helps children to learn vocabulary to articulate their feelings.
• A key strength of the setting is the support in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDCo) goes to great lengths in her efforts to remove barriers to learning. Intervention plans are monitored with rigour, and targets are shared with all staff and reviewed consistently. Partnership working is exemplary.
• Staff praise the management team and feel well supported in their roles. The manager and deputy support staff effectively through regular supervision meetings and observations of their practice. Staff have access to online training and are encouraged to reflect on their practice through peer-on-peer observations, which enhances their knowledge and supports children's learning.
• Parents speak very highly of the setting and are extremely happy with the support they receive. They praise the communication between staff and the parents via online systems, parents' meetings and termly reports. Parents feel included in their child's learning, with regular 'challenges' for learning together at home. They make special reference to the support the nursery gives to families and the community through local food banks and oral health bags.
• Staff provide a curriculum that builds upon what children already know and can do. They skilfully use children's interests to engage and motivate them in their learning. For example, children talk to each other about making pancakes in the home corner as they mix real ingredients together. They squeeze and grate lemon peel to add to their pancake mixture. This helps children to make connections in their learning from home and develop their fine motor skills when using real tools.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of routines and enhance opportunities for older children to build upon their independence skills even further.