Woodthorpe Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and settle quickly after being greeted by friendly and kind staff. They explore their environment and make independent choices from the interesting resources available to them. Children stand at the water tray, exploring with pipettes. They develop their small-muscle skills as they squeeze the pipettes, drawing up coloured water and transferring it to a variety of pots. They are supported by staff to use mathematical language as they play, talking about the 'smaller' and 'larger' pots they are using. Children grasp large pieces of chalk as they make marks on the floor. They develop their literacy skills, as they are encouraged by staff to think about the first letter of their name. Children are warmly praised as they carefully write and form letters.

Children develop their balance and coordination as they scramble up the climbing apparatus. They further develop these skills as they balance on the stepping stones, holding out their arms to steady themselves as they carefully and successfully complete the task. They use their imaginations as they run around the playground shouting, 'Quick! The dinosaurs are coming.' Younger children are encouraged to develop their communication and language skills as they pretend to talk on the phone. They develop this further as they snuggle into staff for stories and songs.

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

• The managers and staff have constructed a well-planned and interesting programme of learning, which ensures that children gain valuable and educational experiences. For example, staff build on what children already know by encouraging them to look for and identify recognisable shapes in the environment, which helps to develop their mathematical knowledge.
• The longstanding staff team say that they feel very happy in their roles. The management team is passionate about providing well-being support for the staff, and managers ensure that training opportunities are available. However, the manager focuses on staff as a team in the room rather than providing individual observation and giving individual feedback to staff to improve their practice.
• Children have close relationships with staff, and they benefit from their nurturing, caring approach. Children are warmly praised when they achieve things throughout the day. For example, as children balance and walk across crates in the garden, they are given positive words of encouragement as staff say, 'You can do it! Well done.' This has a positive impact on children's emotional well-being.
• Children benefit from a wide range of planned learning opportunities, both indoors and outdoors. However, occasionally, staff do not adapt the activities on offer to meet the needs of all children. For example, in the toddler room, staff ask multiple questions to younger children who are developing their communication skills. Children struggle to understand the questions and sometimes wander off.
• Parents are highly complimentary about the 'supportive and caring' nursery. They receive daily feedback on their child's progress and suggestions on how to help children learn in their home environment.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have good support in place. The passionate special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works closely with families and professionals to coordinate and implement individual learning plans, ensuring that the right support is in place for children. As a result of this, children are making good progress during their time at nursery.
• Staff support children's understanding about what makes them unique. Children who speak English as an additional language progress well, as staff use words from their home language. They also embed cultures and family celebrations into the setting. Children gain new opportunities in the pre-school room to learn another language, as they sing and count in Spanish. They build their confidence as they pronounce Spanish words with increasing fluency, supported by committed and enthusiastic staff.
• Healthy lifestyles are promoted well, as children enjoy home-cooked meals and well-balanced diets during their time at nursery. Children are given the opportunity to grow vegetables, which helps them to understand how some food is produced. They experience fresh air by engaging in outdoor play on a regular basis, which helps to build the essential physical skills they need as they progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus the management team's monitoring on individual staff practice in order to strengthen the feedback they receive and enhance the quality of education
• develop staff's skills on how they use questions when they interact with children so that children have time to process the question and develop an answer.